


Swarming the Multiverse

by Gojirahkiin



Category: Donkey Kong (Video Games), F.E.A.R. (Video Games), Godzilla - All Media Types, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, StarCraft, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Eventual Larger Plot, Gen, Multiple Crossovers, One Shot Collection, Some Crack, more characters tba - Freeform, mostly serious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2018-09-22 08:20:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 48,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9596006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gojirahkiin/pseuds/Gojirahkiin
Summary: This is the crossover that started it all, and by far the weirdest. It came to me in a dream and I had to write it down and share it.





	1. Prologue

Mengsk was dead, and the Zerg were recovering from their losses on Korhal. The time had come to prepare to attack Amon – to attack a god.

Sarah Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades, walked through the biological hallways of her leviathan. Some time ago she had given Abathur a project to ensure the Swarm's survival no matter the result of the war with Amon, and mere moments earlier Izsha had told her that Abathur had reported success.

A fleshy door opened. An immature mind would have commented on its resemblance to a sphincter, and everything such a resemblance entailed, but Kerrigan had not had an immature mind in a very long time… and even if she did, she had gotten used to the appearance by now.

"Izsha tells me that you've succeeded Abathur. I came to see the results for myself, and to find out how you did it."

"Process challenging," the Evolution Master replied, "Larvae cannot survive off creep. Many strands altered to solve problem. Larvae contain all Zerg strands to become other Zerg. Few changes needed. Psionic and intellectual improvements. More changes. Conflicting sequences. Recent evolutionary upgrades removed."

"Such as?"

"Swarmling mutation gone."

Getting the idea, Kerrigan interrupted, "So the larvae will be able to find suitable areas or hosts for themselves, but what about the modified drop pods?"

"Challenge harder. Added brain, navigational ability. In atmosphere can slow movement, search. Many strands changed."

"So as I requested, the sac will be able to find a secluded spot to morph into a hatchery?"

"Yes."

"And how many of these have you made."

"One. Changes complete. Easy to replicate. More can be made at your command."

"Then fire this one into deep space and begin producing more. Even if Amon wipes us out, the Swarm will seed the universe."


	2. Donkey Kong Brood

"Now this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky. The ones that shall keep it may prosper–"  
"But the ones who touch Donkey Kong's banana hoard must die!"  
– Wizard and Boomstick, Hosts of Death Battle

It was a dark night on DK Isle, and a meteor shot across the sky, but there was no explosion even though the asteroid hit the island. In fact, to anyone who was awake to listen, it made more of a splatting sound. However, no one heard the splat because anyone who wasn't asleep could hear over Donkey Kong's snoring.

"Donkey Kong."

DK rolled over in his sleep, ignoring the early morning light and the voice in his head. He was dreaming of bananas. Eating them, mostly.

"Donkey Kong, wake up."

The gorilla's brow furrowed as he slept. In his dream, something brown and bug-like was trying to take his attention off of his hoard. Clearly, it was quite stupid. He picked it up and threw it beyond the horizon.

In the real world, the "stupid" larva would have sighed if not for the fact that its biological programming left it capable of thinking of hundreds of better uses of its time and energy. Its instincts told it to leave the Hatchery and seek out a strong being to become the Swarm's new leader. And though not very bright, Donkey Kong was the strongest being by far within many miles of the larva's psionic sensors.

Luckily, it had been imprinted with the wisdom of the Zerg's Hive Mind, and there was a lesson to be applied here: the stupid are easily manipulated.

"Donkey Kong," it whispered into the ape's mind, "how would you like the power to make sure that no one ever stole your bananas again?"

DK leapt out of bed at the mere suggestion of his bananas being stolen. He beat his chest and pounded the ground, looking around for the thieves.

Nobody was going to steal his bananas!

"And no one ever will again, if you look down and listen to me."

With his golden treasures on the line, DK did look down, and saw the strange worm-like bug from his dream.

"You are very strong Donkey Kong," the ape grinned at the praise, "but you cannot guard your precious fruit alone forever. You need to rest. You need to sleep. You need to find bananas that aren't in your hoard yet."

Donkey_ almost failed to respond to the idea of bananas that weren't in his hoard already. Such a thing was possible?

The Larva could not help it. It gave itself a psionic facepalm, despite not having palms or a face as we might know them. Explanations could wait, it needed to "go for the kill" as the Terran saying went.

"I can give you the power and minions you need to never leave your hoard unguarded. All you need to do is let me infest you, and then follow my instructions."

DK nodded. Anything for his precious bananas.

"Swallow me whole like you do your bananas, and I will take care of the rest."

The great ape picked up the larva in an enormous hand and took a close look at it. He hadn't cared what it looked like before, but now that he had to somehow swallow it he did. It was brown and wriggly, that was the most obvious part, but it was covered in a segmented carapace that did not look appetizing, and its many legs looked sharp.

As if in response to his thoughts, the larva curled up its legs.

Seeing no other reason to delay, and no way that this decision could backfire, DK opened his mouth, tossed the larva in, and swallowed.

Nowhere near as tasty as a banana, but what was really?

Inside the ape's guts, the drone began the next phase of its task, secreting Zerg mutagens and an anesthetic. That was something Kerrigan had been adamant about with Abathur; there was no need to create leaders who might be hostile to the Swarm because of a painful transformation.

As he went about his day of guarding bananas, eating bananas, and looking for these "rogue" bananas not already in his hoard, DK's body was slowly changing. Hardly any of the changes were visible because of the Kong's thick coating of fur, but the mutagens were gradually assimilating the ape's DNA and changing him into Zerg on a cellular level, and the skin beneath his fur, if anyone could see it, was turning a greenish brown and hardening into a carapace.

The larva, its purpose almost complete, psionically transferred its mind to the Hatchery and detonated its former body to release the last of the mutagens. By the end of the day it would be time for phase two of the plan to restore the Zerg.

As the gorilla was about to climb back into bed (he'd found one banana he'd missed at the top of a mountain – totally worth it) the voice spoke to him again.

"Donkey Kong, soon your hoard will never be unguarded, but first, you need to come to me."

DK looked at his gut. Weren't they in the same place already.

The nascent Hive Mind would have groaned if it were a bit more human. Perhaps it should have broadened its search. Still, as another Terran saying went, "No use crying over spilled milk."

"Come here," the psionic connection sent images and directions directly into the ape's brain.

DK was stupid, but not slow. He ran in the direction provided, climbing trees and swinging on vines to reduce his travel time. In what seemed to be no time at all, he arrived… somewhere.

The grass had all died, replaced by a grey goo that gave his feet and hands a push every time he took a step. "Creep," the voice whispered to him. In the center of the clearing was a vast brown, fleshy… thing. It looked like a macabre tent or house. "The Hatchery," the voice whispered again, "touch it."

DK poked it with a finger, and as he did so he was inundated with knowledge.

Drones, Larvae, Queens, Overlords, Zerglings, Roaches, Hydralisks, Swarm Hosts, Infestors, Corrupters, Brood Lords, Vipers, and Ultralisks. He saw all of his future servants and what he needed to do to create them, the necessary structures, their unique abilities.

DK was trembling with excitement. Who cared that they were ugly, there were a lot of them and they were going to make sure that nobody ever stole his bananas ever again!

He morphed one Overlord, a trio of Drones, and a pair of Zerglings. Economically inefficient, but Donkey Kong was the king of the Zerg now, and they obeyed him. He wanted guards and a scout immediately to make sue his hoard was safe.

"Biomass," the Hive Mind whispered, sending a series of images to make the ape understand. Either the Zerg needed to eat, or DK needed to find them minerals and vespene gas.

As the Zerglings ran off to protect the hoard, Donkey Kong remembered something. There were caves in the mountains loaded with blue crystals, and at least one of the mines had been full to bursting with green gas. Maybe those were what the Zerg needed. He almost picked up a pair of the Drones and ran off when the voice of the Hive Mind interrupted.

"Both the caves and the mines are currently too far. Secondary Hatcheries would be needed nearby, or Nydus Worms for easy transportation."

It gave the ape flashes of what those were and what the Swarm would need before either of those could be done. The ape slammed his fist on the ground in frustration, hard enough to make a few coconuts and leaves fall onto the Creep… only to be rapidly assimilated.

Donkey Kong ooked interrogatively.

"Trees and their fruits can be assimilated until the Swarm has enough biomass to launch excursions to the locations of the minerals and gas. And do not worry, any bananas the Zerg find will be saved for you."

That was good enough for DK. He started punching down the trees nearby and piling them on top of the Creep. As he did so, the Drones began cutting into them and taking smaller pieces directly to the Hatchery.

Answering his question even as he formed it, the Hive Mind explained to him that while Creep could "eat" any non-Zerg organic material on it, it was more efficient for drones to take it to the Hatchery for digestion, and more efficiency meant more and better banana-guards sooner.

That was good enough for him too, and he would have started using his brute strength to rip apart the tree trunks to make the Drones' task that much easier, but he suddenly "felt" an alarm coming from the Zerglings he'd sent to guard his bananas. He got a flash of green scales. Kremlings were after his bananas again!

Donkey Kong sprinted through the jungle towards the banana cave. Even if his Zerglings weren't enough, those rotten reptiles wouldn't take his hoard this time!

As he ran, he overtook the Overlord he'd spawned earlier. Why was it so slow?

Once again the Hive Mind answered him, explaining that they could be made faster, but only with an Evolution Chamber. As he ran, DK made a mental note to make one of those as soon as possible.

He arrived at the cave and beat his chest, letting out a mighty roar as he did so… but no Kremlings responded to him. Suspicious, he entered the cave.

There was his hoard, perfectly intact. One Zergling had lost a horn, but otherwise both were unharmed, standing atop a pile of unconscious Kremlings. DK was confused. If they'd won, why hadn't they greeted him?

"You did not tell them that they could stop guarding your bananas, so they continue to do so."

DK beamed. He was going to like these little guys.

"Donkey Kong, the Kremlings were left alive so that the Swarm might learn something useful from their essence and be harvested for biomass. If you take a turn guarding your hoard, the Zerglings can help the Drones drag them to the Hatchery for consumption."

For once, Donkey Kong had a better idea. Pushing the pile outside, DK did some rearranging so that none of them would fall out, and carried all of the Kremlings back to the Hatchery himself. The great ape huffed. All that running and lifting had made him hungry. It was time for a banana break!

Back inside the banana cave, DK was eating some of his delicious golden treasure while sitting on the ground, leaning against one Zergling, and resting his arm on and petting the other – the one with the broken tusk. At that moment, the other three members of the Kong family entered, following the Kremling tracks to check on the hoard.

Cranky, Diddy, and Dixie gawked at DK, who continued to pet the ever vigilant Zergling, which snarled as it saw visitors. DK looked away from the banana in his hand at the sound.

At the sight of his family Donkey Kong started grunting excitedly, explaining in the Kong language about the "magic" worm that had asked him to eat it and then overnight given him special powers over bug things so that he could protect his bananas all the time.

The Hive Mind stayed silent, wanting to watch how this would play out.

Diddy and Dixie seemed confused, but interested. Dixie picked up one of the Zerglings using her ponytail and the two other them started inspecting it.

Cranky Kong was less than pleased. Swinging his walking stick and whacking his son on the head, he started scolding DK for making deals with strange magical worms. The Kong Family banana hoard had been protected by Kong's ever since their arrival on the island, never mind the fact that that tradition had started with Cranky himself.

Sensing that opposition from his family might cause DK to make decisions detrimental to the future of just now christened Kong Brood, the Hive Mind advised him to tell Cranky that infestation could restore him to his former glory, that it could make the whole family stronger and enable them to get an even bigger banana hoard.

Cranky stopped listening at the thought of recapturing the strength of his youth. He agreed to infestation right there.

Back at the Hatchery, the three still-uninfested Kongs were all poking at the Hatchery. They didn't like the way it looked, but it hadn't seemed to change DK, and it hadn't tried to stuff any of them in barrels the way that the Kremlings did, so these "Zerg" as they liked to be called couldn't be that bad.

"Donkey Kong, to assimilate your family into the Swarm, an Evolution Chamber must be constructed, then evolved into superior Evolution Pit. The Drones have enough biomass now. You should also spawn a Queen to guard the Hatchery and spawn more Larvae."

The instructions about what to do psionically beamed into his head, DK pointed at a spot and a drone mutated into a large cyst, slowly growing and expanding until it was a chitinous tumor covered in its own squishy purple cysts. Then he prompted it to mutate into the Evolution Pit, and jiggling tubes connected each cyst, and the entire structure appeared to tremble for several minutes until the "roof" caved it, revealing a bubbling green pool surrounded by spikes or teeth. A second later, one of the teeth fell off, revealing itself to have been a Larva all along, which immediately turned into an egg.

A chorus of questioning "ooks" erupted from the apes, and DK looked to the Hatchery for explanations.

"The unique larva is becoming a unique Zerg organism, the Evolution Master. It will be able to improve the Swarm and assimilate others."

As the explanation finished, the egg hatched and out came the strangest looking creature that the Kongs had ever seen. It had a blueish-grey slug-like body, with a gaping hole emanating green light for a mouth, and eyes that radiated similar light. Perhaps strangest of all were the spidery spikes that appeared to poke out of its back and loom over its head for no discernible reason.

Preempting DK's questions with answers, the creature said, "Name unnecessary. Am Evolution Master. Born from strands from Organism Abathur."

While the Hive Mind only spoke in DK's head, Abathur used his mouth and spoke in a way the Kongs understood. Dixie still thought he needed a name and suggested Em, for Evolution Master.

"Name acceptable. Am now Organism Em," Em replied.

The Hive Mind then showed DK how Em would be able to assimilate the others. Em made the mistake of saying that he could improve each of them, and Donkey Kong said that they were to look just the same as they did now. Em acquiesced.

Apparently, they would have to enter the bubbling pool in the pit one at a time so that Em could learn all he needed to from their strands (whatever those were; both Em and the Hive Mind tried to explain, but DK got bored) and change them into Zerg.

Diddy Kong, fearless as he was, was the first into the pool. He looked up to Donkey Kong and wanted to be just like him, even to the point of becoming Zerg. He was submerged for nearly an hour as Em familiarized himself with Kong DNA and made – in his own words – "minor beneficial modifications."

When Diddy jumped out of the pool, he looked much the same, with only one glaring difference – his tail was longer, thicker, and ended in a cluster of claws that moved as if all of them were opposable thumbs.

DK stood at his full seven feet and ten inch height, about to pound Em to paste. He'd said not to change anything! But something tapped him on the shoulder.

DK looked and saw that it was Diddy, using his new tail. He seemed happy with it. Even weirder, he could feel what Diddy was feeling the same way he could hear the Hive Mind speaking.

Em explained, "Previous tail inefficient. Poor grasper limb. Improved. Stronger, more dexterous. Better."

The Hive Mind elaborated further, "Diddy Kong is fully sapient. Sapient creatures in the Swarm can speak to each other with telepathy." At the blank stares the Hatchery received, it simplified, "You can speak in each other's heads now."

DK and Diddy immediately put it to the test, performing an elaborate "victory dance" that they'd always wanted to do but never been able to coordinate before. They performed it flawlessly. Being a Zerg was great!

Dixie went next, and Em needed less time to modify her since he was now familiar with most of the DNA in the Kongs… but when she came out, she didn't look any different at all. She hooted and hollered at Em, very upset that she didn't have any cool modifications.

"Organism Dixie is mistaken. Improvements subtler. Less visible. Muscles attached to hair fibers stronger. Can fly now."

Dixie's eyes widened and she immediately started twirling her ponytail. Slowly but surely, she achieved liftoff and flew in several laps around the Hatchery before coming back down. She ran up to Em and hugged him.

"Display indicative of happiness, affection. Unnecessary. Swarm benefits."

Cranky Kong was the last to enter the pool, and only did so after making some whispers to Em about what he wanted.

Since the Kong's seemed to be waiting for their elder to finish his transformation, Em said, "Organism Cranky's requested changes extensive. Will require entire day. Suggest more productive actions."

The Hive Mind then alerted the trio that the Swarm collectively had enough biomass to construct a secondary hatchery either at the mines or the mountain caves, sending Diddy and Dixie the same mental imagery and explanations it had given Donkey Kong earlier.

Though they were a family, DK was the Swarm's boss, and he told his friend and his friend's girlfriend to guard the banana hoard with the Zerglings. DK himself picked up a Drone and started carrying it. The blue crystals were used for more things, so he would take this one to the snowy caves.

Once there, DK got to see a Hatchery spawn for the first time. It started with a faintly translucent cyst on the ground which rapidly grew into the house-like structure he was familiar with now, and it began spreading Creep all around itself. He had a Larva become a Drone and begin the harvesting the vast cave of minerals.

The Zerg had done well enough on fruit, trees, and the group of Kremlings, but they thrived on minerals. Soon the Kong Brood had dozens of Drones and even more Zerglings, along with multiple Queens at both Hatcheries. The Hive Mind had sent DK more mental instructions and he'd ordered the Queens to begin laying Creep Tumors to connect the Hatcheries.

"Organism Cranky Kong transformed. Requests family presence."

And Cranky seemed to have a better grasp of how the Hive Mind worked, and was able to keep the other three Kongs from psionically peeking at the new him.

Em was standing in front of a screen of leaves when all DK, Diddy, and Dixie arrived.

"Theatricality unnecessary, inefficient, but requested. Observe."

The leaves parted and Cranky Kong stepped out, but it certainly wasn't the Cranky that had set foot inside the Evolution Pit. He'd thrown away his walking stick and stood tall. He was muscular and broad shouldered, and he once more had all of his teeth. He threw away his glasses, not needing them anymore. He could have been a duplicate of Donkey Kong except for the fact that he didn't have a tie and he kept his white beard.

"Corrected age-induced weaknesses. Vision problems. Joint problems. Muscular atrophy. Beard unnecessary, but requested."

A month later.

Becoming Zerg was the best decision that DK had ever made. His dad was healthy again, he could talk to his friends in their heads, and his banana hoard was never unguarded. Still the Hive Mind continued to urge him to do more things.

The minerals in the caves were not the ones that the Zerg were used to, but they were close enough that they were only operating just shy of optimal efficiency. The gas in the caves however, had turned out to be exactly the gas they wanted. Even better, the Zerglings had flooded the caves and wiped out the previously unstoppable Rockkrocs, and brought their essence to Em. Em had made some tweaks to the strands (something DK still did not understand) and now every Zerg in the Swarm could disguise itself as a rock if it wanted to.

DK Isle had been completely transformed though. There were no more trees, having all been consumed by the Creep, which was now everywhere on the island, even up to the snowy peaks. The goo wasn't very pretty, but it was good for the Swarm and was even cleaning up the pollution from the Kremling's factories, processing it into something the Zerg could use.

The Kremlings were another matter. They were gone. They had come in force one day, with pirate ships and huge metal islands and crocodilian jets, but the Zerg had utterly wiped them out. DK had only rode out on an Ultralisk to watch – he hadn't needed to lift a finger.

There was just one problem.

Without anymore trees, there were no more bananas growing. With no more bananas growing, the hoard was getting smaller as the Kongs at from it. DK consulted Em for a solution. There was always the Hive Mind, but sometimes DK liked to talk with his mouth.

"Swarm could grow bananas."

DK immediately ordered Em to start doing it.

"One problem."

DK didn't care, whatever it was, it could be solved.

"Must consume bananas to examine strands, flavor. Organism Donkey Kong forbid non-Kong Zerg from eating bananas."

That made DK pause. He could get more bananas later, but he had to give up some now? The idea made his head hurt. How could giving up bananas get you bananas?

The Hive Mind saw another opportunity to begin nudging its leader towards competence.

"Donkey Kong, Em will need one hundred bananas to examine them properly, but afterwards, will be able to grow Zerg bananas that are even better, and can be grown anywhere. In the desert, in the snow, underwater, and even in a Zerg Leviathan."

Donkey Kong looked off into the distance at a place he always imagined the Hive Mind's "body" would be if it had one. What was a Leviathan?

Images flooded into DK's brain of planets, worlds beyond the stars, and vast creatures larger than even Donkey Kong Island capable of carrying the entire rest of the Swarm in their bellies. He could fit all the Zerg in the Kong Brood in one of the larger chambers and dedicate the rest to growing bananas if he wanted to.

That made the decision.

An hour later Em had consumed one hundred bananas after growing himself taste buds modeled on DK's, and after examining their flavor, nutritional content, and DNA, he had begun production of the first Zerg banana plant.

A week later, the first Zerg banana was plucked and immediately eaten by Donkey Kong.

His eyes went wide and he fell to the ground, mind completely blank. The other Kongs feared for a moment that he had died.

Then he stood up and pulled Em and the Zerg banana plant into a bear hug that lasted an hour as DK thanked Em for creating something so wonderful and praised the "magic worm" that had come to him and brought the Zerg into his life.

A year later the entire planet was covered in Creep and Zerg bananas, and the Leviathan was preparing to depart.

Before hopping inside the Leviathan, DK stood on its head and took one last look at his birth world, still growing bananas for when he came back, and beat his chest, letting out the most powerful roar of his life.

The Donkey Kong Brood was off to spread the Zerg and bananas throughout the rest of the universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the crossover that started it all, and by far the weirdest. It came to me in a dream and I had to write it down and share it.


	3. Kamacuras Brood

Throughout the universe, one would be surprised by the number of planets that inhabitants refer to as Earth. Earth is a word that often stands in for another concept – soil, life-giving, mothers, fathers, cradles, birthplaces, and so on and so forth.

Therefore it should not be a surprise that one of the special Larvae dispatched from Kerrigan's Leviathan arrived on a planet called Earth, just not the Earth that the Terran's would call home.

As the fleshy drop-pod entered the atmosphere it slowed itself down and began to psionically scan the planet for the purpose of avoiding heavily inhabited areas. Sensing entities similar to Terrans virtually everywhere, the sentient sac avoided the larger landmasses and aimed for an island seemingly populated solely by wildlife. With its last gasp of psionic energy, it hurled itself at the island to establish a secluded hatchery.

Most of the native life glanced up at the meteor, but paid it no mind. But one entity was near where it landed and watched the sac erupt into a chitinous fortress with hungry eyes.

The Larva emerged from within the hatchery and began scanning for a suitable host. Its psionic powers were limited to what would help it move about and find a suitable sapient.

As a result it did not notice the hungry entity until it stepped beyond the tree-line and into the moonlight.

Normally a dusty red, in the dark the seemingly black colossal mantid had seen the meteor become flesh as it landed. It had never heard of meat falling from the sky, but she would not complain. Kamacuras was an opportunistic carnivore, but her recent hunts had been sabotaged by the King of the Monsters, Curse Godzilla for adopting that succulent morsel. It would have been so tender if she and her brethren had been able to eat it just out of the shell. Now it was fatter, yes, but she was the only survivor of her group, and its hide would be tougher to chew whenever she did finally kill it.

The mantis kaiju took a step onto the grey goo and leaned down to inspect it. Shee had never seen anything quite like it, but it still smelled like meat, if a strange kind, so she took some into her mandibles, macerated it, and swallowed.

Slimy, but no less satisfying for it.

The Larva had an idea. The creature currently menacing the Hatchery and ascertaining its edibility by sampling the creep was large, and seemed to be semi-sapient. It was guided by instinct, with just the faintest hints of rational thought assisting it. The swarm could use that – smart enough to understand commands, yet too animalistic to question why. The Larva began to crawl towards the dying Creep.

As Kamacuras took her next bite, the Larva slithered past her mandibles and down her esophagus to begin changing her.

The Larva was not capable of secreting enough mutagens for a creature this size, so instead, it began a slightly different process. Different glands began secreting a complex mix of digestive juices, healing agents, and anesthetics, and began to dissolve its way towards the approximate location of its host's spinal cord, allowing its path to regenerate behind it.

Kamacuras was unaware of the parasite inside her, preparing to groom her for a new destiny.

The Larva reached her spine and began to follow it towards her brain, all while Kamacuras continued to glut herself on the seemingly inexhaustible supply of Creep.

The mantid's neck was a tight squeeze, even for something as small as the Larva, and Kamacuras did feel the faintest of burning sensations, but after a quick look around, ignored them and turned her eyes one more to the Hatchery. Perhaps it was so well armored because it was tasty…

The Larva reached her brain and burst into a slurry of Zerg virus and alien neurotransmitters.

In the night air, Kamacuras paused, spearlike limb about to stab into the Hatchery.

"Protect it," her new instincts demanded. "Feed it."

Kamacuras had salvaged something from the battlefield from earlier that day, planning to eat it later. She scuttled off to where she'd been resting when the asteroid struck and retrieved the severed leg of one of her pack members. She'd meant to eat it later, but for now it would supply a few tons of meat to her immobile ward.

The Hive Mind was not Abathur, and a new Evolution Master was some time away, but through the Hatchery it had a limited ability to examine the genetic code of lifeforms that interested it. It could see that Kamacuras' kind had always been abnormally large, but exposure to large amounts of radiation had activated previously latent strands in their genome, increasing their size beyond even a Brutalisk. It could do nothing with that information, but tucked it away into the Swarm's memory for when the next Evolution Master spawned.

By the dawn's early light the Hatchery had spawned several Drones that were working on tearing up nearby trees into an easily digestible mulch, an Overlord, and a Queen to spawn more Larvae and spread Creep. And despite only several hours having passed from the moment of infection, Kamacuras' appearance had changed dramatically.

Her compound eyes had become green for a start, and her reddish carapace was now the standard beige of the Zerg. Though already covered in spikes, her exoskeleton had grown more, these bone white and far sharper. Her antennae had sprouted a multitude of branches, increasing their sensitivity by a thousandfold. Finally, her abdomen had swollen tremendously.

Despite being the last – or perhaps first now – of her kind, she was pregnant. At the moment she could not spawn creatures such as herself, but if she could feed enough, she could spawn any other of the Swarm's units. Her mutation had essentially turned her into a new Broodmother.

Scouring the mantid's mind, the Hive Mind had learned of the kaiju on this world, and of their great size and power. It had also learned that Kamacuras was perhaps the weakest of their kind, relying on numbers and flanking tactics to bring down prey. That the original Larva had possessed the last of their kind was most unfortunate, but the Swarm had experienced beginnings far harsher than this one.

The Hive Mind mused that if Abathur had known of this island, he would have sent an entire brood just to study it.

Kamacuras flew around the island regularly, acting as a scout and laying eggs that would hatch into Overlords as needed, so that the Hive Mind could familiarize itself with the island's residents and their movements. It turned out that there was a group of humans on this island, Sollgel, and the large creatures, called kaiju, were an unexpected problem for them. The Hive Mind could not probe their minds deeply, only scan surface thoughts through Kamacuras' new psionically sensitive antennae, but it learned enough.

Humans were the dominant species on this planet, and the group on the island was testing an atmospheric control device; its misfire had been what provoked Kamacuras' growth spurt. There were only three other kaiju on this island, but more were out in the world. One was a gargantuan spider called Kumonga. Its webs could only be cut through by extreme heat (thought the new Broodmother made a note to sacrifice a few Zerglings to test that).

The other two were the same species. The larger, far more dangerous one, was called Godzilla, and the smaller one was newly hatched and christened Minya by the humans.

The Swarm's growth was slow without the crystalline mineral deposits or vespene gas that they were accustomed to, but it was steady and constant. Kumonga still slumbered, and the saurians stayed in their territory for the most part. The humans and their machine were scarcely worth noticing.

In days, the Hatchery became a Lair and the first Overseer morphed. Faster and with far more sensitive eyes than an Overlord, it could see Kumonga beneath the soil. The creature was vast, and Kamacuras' memories showed it to be dangerous. It would need to be dealt with soon.

The Hive Mind decided to forego airborne Zerg to focus on ground forces for the moment, just to test the island's other inhabitants. Kamacuras soon spawn two Ultralisks at different points on the island, one to test the arachnid, the other to test the mutated dinosaurs.

Even the mighty Ultralisk struggled to cut through the webs surrounding Kumonga's domain, and its efforts alerted the massive spider to its presence. The Hive Mind watched, fascinated, as it sprayed its webbing into the air only for it to fall and bind its prey. It kept its "consciousness" with the Ultralisk even when Kumonga's barb envenomated it, documenting the symptoms as it died. The Evolution Pit was the next structure it would complete, and these observations would be crucial to the Evolution Master.

The other Ultralisk approached the juvenile. No doubt harming it would provoke the elder, which is what the Hive Mind wanted. Kamacuras' memories held that the creature was deadly, but its danger to the Zerg needed to be evaluated. The Ultralisk was large enough to look Minya in the eye and swung its blade across the juvenile's torso.

It did only superficial damage, but the juvenile cried out in pain, stumbling backward and waking its parent. The Ultralisk was forced to look up at Godzilla, its highest point rising only to the enraged father's waist. The roar of anger was deafening, but no more so than that of battles in the Koprulu Sector. A powerful kick damaged the Ultralisk's armor, but did not kill it.

The next attack did.

A blue beam the Hive Mind identified as a stream of radioactive plasma struck the Ultralisk, and armor that could withstand a Terran nuclear missile melted away before the rest of the Zerg combusted.

The Hive Mind classed Kumonga as a low threat due to its caution and general immobility, but classed Godzilla as a severe threat to the swarm in its current state. Killing Kumonga would require careful planning, but could be achieved with minimal difficulty. All indications were that Godzilla would require overwhelming force – multiple Brutalisks supported by Vipers, Corrupters, Mutalisks, and Brood Lords at the minimum. If that attack failed, then only a Leviathan would succeed.

Soon after the battles, the Evolution Pit finished mutating and an Evolution Master emerged and immediately set to work analyzing the strands acquired from the other giant mantis' limb.

"Radiovorous mutation triggers tissue growth in response to high radiation exposure. Similar to Torrasque Ultralisk strain. Similar enough to replicate. Different enough to spread across Swarm."

The mutation caused every Zerg organism to develop luminescent blue tumors filled with regenerative tissues. The Abathur clone moved on to its next task.

"Unable to fully incorporate Broodmother Kamacuras' phenotype into Swarm. Require more strands."

Far too large to fit into the Evolution Pit's pool, but now totally loyal to the Hive Mind, Kamacuras' gnawed off one of her arms for further examination of her genetic code.

A day later the Evolution Master's telepathic voice rang out, "New Zerg strain created. Kamaclings. Similar in form, ability to original Kamacuras. Lighter. Faster. Recommended use similar to Zerglings. Plentiful, disposable."

The Broodmother immediately began laying Kamacling eggs. Soon it would be time to attack.

Kumonga stirred once again in his burrow. Was there prey again so soon? It felt like it. The rumble of many feet disturbed his silken lines.

The spider erupted from the ground in a shower of dirt and stone, only for his eight eyes to see a an army arrayed against him.

Flocks of Mutalisks immediately flew forward and began launching their glaive worms at his eyes. Unable to close them, Kumonga could only chitter in pain and rise on his legs to his full height in an effort to catch them with his venomous barb. Unable to do even that, he was about to spray them when suddenly a green cloud obscured his vision.

Multiple vipers had released their blinding clouds.

Seeing their chance, the Ultralisks rushed forward, each clutching and scything at the arachnid's legs, trying to cut him down to size.

The Kamaclings arrived to finish the job. Some dog-piled the spider until his legs could not support him anymore, despite this strategy killing several of them, while others used either their spear-limb to stab, or scythe limb to slice at his joints.

Kamacuras herself arrived as the spider lay dying, its legs cut apart and its body crushed, and drove her spear arm into its mandibles, killing it instantly.

By the next morning the Zerg had cleared the area of the biomass and used it to spawn several Brutalisks, and using the DNA the Abathur duplicate had created a new strain of Zerg. The Kumongalisks were an evolutionary path available to the Zerglings, similar to the Banelings in that respect, differing in that they needn't die to attack. Fragile, fast, and filled with deadly venom, the Kumongalisks were meant for surgical strikes, rapidly incapacitating important targets.

That night they attacked Godzilla. The time had come for the Swarm to find out for itself if his title as King of the Monsters was deserved.

* * *

Godzilla woke up when he heard Kamacuras shrieking at him. He had already butchered the rest of her pack; did she wish to join them?

Leaving the deep cave and giving Minya a soft growl to let him know things were alright, he went out to take care of the annoying insect.

Like Kamacuras, Godzilla was a creature of instinct and the instant he stepped out of the cave, he smelled something alien and his instincts screamed that he was in danger.

Hearing movement to one side, he lashed out with his tail breaking the body of... another Kamacuras? No, none of the mantids had glowing blue spots, and their torsos certainly hadn't collapsed into cocoons like that.

Moments later, the cocoon burst the mutant Kamacuras stood up, whole and alive again, the only difference being a dimming of the blue spots.

Godzilla was instinctive, not stupid. He realized that the glow had something to do with its ability to come back to life, so he spun around, killing it again before the glow could brighten. This time it stayed dead, but the real Kamacuras flew away, and Godzilla saw just how many glow blue spots were moving towards him.

Godzilla let out a challenging roar. If they had all come to die, so be it.

Minya stumbled out of the cave, cooing in some distress at the sounds of battle, and Godzilla gently but firmly nudged him back into the cave. Minya would learn to fight his own battles, but not today.

Godzilla charged, stomping across a living carpet of Zerglings that feebly attempted to slash and bite him. He only noticed Roaches and Hydralisks enough to specifically target them to step on.

A pair of Ultralisks burst out of the ground on either side of him, trying to use their blade-like arms chop through the scales on his legs. They were mighty, but Godzilla's scales were hard, and his hide was thick. However, to buy them time the Zerg's airborne swarm flew in. Corrupters, Mutalisks, Brood Lords, and Vipers used their respecting attacks and abilities in an effort to bring down the Monster King. Corrupter' acid corroded his scales to make it easier for glaive worms and Broodlings to pierce them, and the Vipers' clouds of green gas prevented him from aiming with his atomic breath.

However, unlike Terran and Protoss forces Godzilla did not give a damn what he was shooting at, and the atomic ray carved into the swarm, incinerating flesh before its radiovorous properties could resurrect them. The beam scythed through the Zerg in every direction up and down, and only lucky Ultralisks managed to survive it.

However, the Swarm was far from done with its assault, and out of the jungle the first Brutalisk charged into the fight. Just as large as Godzilla himself, it reared back and slammed into him knocking the King of the Monsters to the ground. This caused him to crush one Ultralisk and hordes of Zerglings, but that was an acceptable loss.

The first Kumongalisks appeared and tried to go for Godzilla's eyes, but the moment he felt them on his face he clawed them off even as he rolled away from the Brutalisk.

Rising to his feet, Godzilla charged at the largest of the Zerg and the pair of them grappled, the latter leaning into bite the radioactive dinosaur. Godzilla blasted the Brutalisk in its face, burning through it and killing the creature. Seeing its flesh fall away to reveal another of the gleaming cocoons, Godzilla tore it apart with his claws, ripping out what looked to him like tumors and cysts until he was able to rip out obviously important organs like a heart and lungs.

Three more Brutalisks and a dozen Kamaclings arrived, and Godzilla paused as he noticed something. They always came from a direction where there was grey slime along the ground.

A Kamacling attacked him from behind and he reached back, grabbing it by its arms and throwing it down in front of him. He crushed its torso, which seemed to destroy the cocoon before it could even form.

The torso was the key. The cocoon was in there, keeping all the organs protected as it grew another body.

Realizing this Godzilla ran at the Brutalisks with renewed fury. One swung its bladed arm at him and he caught it. Raising a foot and pressing it against the creature's thorax, Godzilla wrenched the limb completely out of its socket making the Brutalisk scream. He clubbed a Kamacling that tried to interfere to the ground with the limb, then spun it around and stabbed its original owner through its own heart. To make doubly sure it stayed dead, Godzilla pulled out the arm and fired into the open wound, roasting the body from the inside out.

As the body fell, the Kamaclings swarmed him, trying to stab him wherever there was still blood, not realizing that most of those wounds had healed already. Godzilla spun around as he fired the atomic ray, killing them once and then killing the cocoons that threatened to bring them back to life.

Godzilla turned to fight the Brutalisk he'd seen trying to circle around behind him, but felt a strange numbness in his left leg. The surviving Kumongalisks were all injecting their venom into one spot in an effort to overwhelm his body, a strategy that might work against a lesser monster, but not the King of the Monsters.

Stomping his numb foot to dislodge them, Godzilla fired at the ground around his feet to burn away the tiny, wriggling Zerg, but as he was distracted the Brutalisk charged at its full speed and rammed its horn into Godzilla's chest.

For the first time that night Godzilla screamed in pain, but he fought through it. He pushed the Brutalisk away, and as its horn slipped out an observing Overlord witness just how fast Godzilla's healing factor was, stopping the bleeding in seconds and completely healing the wound in under a minute.

Godzilla punched the armored creature's eyeless, chitinous face until the horn broke off. Godzilla tossed it at an Overlord in anger, killing it instantly.

Feeling movement behind him, Godzilla overturned the Brutalisk, making it fall on its back. In that position, its abdomen was vulnerable and Godzilla grabbed it, lifted, and spun in a shocking feat of strength and brought it down on top of the Brutalisk that dared try to attack him while he was distracted, shattering the armor of both and exposing their vulnerable cocoons. Godzilla set both ablaze and moved on.

* * *

The Zerg tide turned back, the Hive Mind reeling. How could a single organism wreak so much damage against the Swarm?

While not normally flammable, it seemed that the radioactive nature of Godzilla's plasma inhibited the Creeps natural flame retardant, and the monstrous beast was now following the rapidly burning ooze back to the Hive Cluster.

In desperation, Broodmother Kamacuras laid more Kamacling eggs.

A terrible roar emerged the flames, a sound that now heralded death to the Zerg. Godzilla had arrived at the Hive.

Kamacuras attempted to flee. If she could lay eggs that hatched into Drones, not all would be lost, but Godzilla shot her in flight, not even giving her chance to resurrect. The Drones tried to flee to the remaining forest, but it was too far and yet more atomic fire incinerated them.

The remainder of Godzilla's wrath was focused on the Zerg structures, his rampage for once playing out with flesh and chitin instead of concrete and steel.

As the sun rose that day, all trace of the Zerg had been removed from Sollgel Island, and Godzilla went back to his cave for a well deserved rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Zerg will not succeed in every instance in this multi-crossover, and who better to illustrate this than Godzilla himself?


	4. Alma Brood

There is an island far off the coast of India whose people violently reject all efforts to contact them. Unfortunate shipwreck survivors who land on the island are killed and helicopters that attempt to scout the island for any reason are warded away by hails of arrows.

For this reason the island has no trace of modern technology, barring some aluminum cookware from a failed attempt at peaceful contact, and for that reason the island was targeted by the Zerg drop-pod for landing.

Nearly a year passed before the Zerg were detected by people remotely capable of fighting back, and by then it was far too late. The Hatchery had completed its evolution into a Hive and the ground beneath the island's surface had become a vast network of tunnels. The infestation could not be purged, but it was contained by naval blockade and the threat of nuclear weapons, which the Zerg seemed to comprehend. Only an occasional Overlord or Overseer ever strayed too close to the blockade.

It was another year before the Swarm suddenly erupted from the island in a show of extreme force and sudden brutality, a biological blitzkrieg that the nations of the world were not remotely prepared for.

It was only the last transmission of a stray ROV that revealed the cause: heavily mutated aquatic Zerg were harvesting the life forms around, and the minerals directly from black smokers, the volcanic vents not far off the island's coast at the bottom of the sea. For two years the swarm had done nothing but prepare, letting the world believe that it was merely an alien infection that was contained.

All are familiar with the Zerg air forces, the Mutalisks, Corrupters, Vipers, and Brood Lords. The air over the Indian subcontinent was thick with them, and under their many watchful eyes hordes of Nydus Worms erupted, providing easy transport to earthbound Zerg.

But the world learned to fear the oceans once again under the reign of the Swarm.

Zerg infested squid and sharks became colossal, ship-destroying monsters straight out of legend, their obvious deformities only adding to the horrific survivors' tales.

Nothing ever seemed to change about the Zerg's main military force, but it was their more subtle work that really drove home that there was an intelligence behind their every action. Earth's wildlife was an encyclopedia of war to the Swarm's Evolution Master, who treated DNA as a child might treat their Legos.

Improved cuttlefish genetics were spliced into Zerg infested snakes, creating virtually invisible assassins capable of mimicking the appearance and texture of objects until a Changeling could leave them near an important target.

Jellyfish DNA was spliced into Overlords, making even the least dangerous of the Zerg a curtain of death as they dragged tentacles coated in deadly venom along the ground.

People believed that the end times had come, and just this once they seemed to be correct.

Then the Swarm arrived at Fairport, a seemingly typical, if sparsely populated city in the United States.

* * *

The Hive Mind was overwhelmed with a profound sense of fury… which was deeply bizarre, because in the absence of a leading organism capable of emotion, the Hive Mind could not even imagine the feeling of anger.

Locked in her vault, twenty-six year old Alma wade had suffered decades of abuse and experimentation, but even though she was bound, she was not truly caged. They'd taken away her childhood, her innocence, and her sons, and with the coming of the Zerg, she saw her chance for revenge.

The Hive Mind was bare to Alma, and Alma's mind was bare to it. A truly strange feeling for her; the Zerg were hostile to humanity, but not yet to her. They wanted a new Queen of Blades to lead them. She wanted freedom and a family that would love her. The Zerg would provide if she joined them. The Larva meant to make the new leader a Zerg organism had never found a worthy host. The Hive Mind asked if Alma was willing to become that host.

It was an easy decision, and the whole world knew that something strange and terrible had happened because every Zerg for two-thousand miles began to converge on Fairport in a migration that made the ones that used to run across the Serengeti look small.

Alma felt the scientists around her pulling the plug on her life support. It didn't matter. Based on what the Hive Mind told her, she would be free in less than a day.

For once, the Armacham Technology Corporation faced a problem they could not grease enough palms to worm their way out of. They called on the US military for aid, and were completely shut down. Whatever they had done to draw that many Zerg was not worth defending.

Shortly before the Zerg arrived, the Hive Mind contacted her again. It wasn't a warning, merely a statement of fact: Zerg showed no mercy, so if anyone she wanted to deal with personally was in their way, she would have to go without it.

That was fine. Harlan Wade did not deserve to live for another second, even if every moment was agony, and the same went for the rest of Armacham.

The Zerglings were the first to arrive, their tiny wings accelerating them far faster than their legs alone could carry them, and the Nydus Worms popped up behind them, releasing Banelings and Ultralisks.

Three minutes and twelve seconds.

That was how long Alma counted before she felt all of Armacham's mercenaries die in splashes of acid, impalement on a Zergling's claws, or being sliced in half by an Ultralisk's bladed arms.

She could hear scientists screaming; she wasn't sensing their minds, she could hear the screams through her vault as the Zerglings screeched and tore them apart. She savored the sounds. They deserved it.

Then something really strange happened. It felt like her vault was moving, and extremely quickly, but where was it going?

Had Alma been able to see outside, she would have seen that Armacham was preparing to detonate a thermonuclear bomb in the facility. Rather than lose the future queen of the Swarm, the Hive Mind ordered a Nydus Worm to sacrifice itself by swallowing the vault. The motion Alma felt was the rapid peristaltic contractions of the worm's gullet, pushing her towards the primary Hive Cluster.

Regardless, Alma was still in the dark, both literally and metaphorically, as she felt the motion come to a sudden stop. The fluids her body was suspended in sloshed around as her vault impacted the ground.

And suddenly there was air and light again. She coughed to expel the liquid from her lungs and took her first breath of the outside air in many years.

Freedom.

Her eyes adjusted to the light and she looked around. It seemed that a group of infested humans had opened her vault, but she sensed the most intelligence from the least human figure present.

The creature was greyish-blue with a slug-like body and had a green glowing vertical hole in place of a mouth. It also had a set of spearlike, arachnoid limbs emerging from its back with no obvious purpose, and a pair of three-fingered hands.

"What are you?" she asked with her mind more than her mouth, although she did use both. Just being able to talk and breathe was something she wanted to do more of after so long locked away.

"Am Evolution Master. Spin strands. Evolve Swarm. Will evolve you."

"I am not queen yet?"

"Queen must be Zerg," the Evolution Master stated, and though not part of the Hive Mind, Alma requested information from it, and it explained as best it could that the more primitive Zerg organisms would not accept her rule unless she had at least some Zerg genetics. It was the only condition that the Zerg had for accepting her.

Alma only barely hesitated. What had being human ever gotten her? She followed the Evolution Master and obeyed his instructions to immerse herself into the green goo. At least beneath the slime she could still look up and see the light.

A Larva crawled in with her, and Alma realized that this was the unique Larva the Hive Mind had thought of during their first psionic contact. Between its special abilities and the Evolution Master's skills, she would become a Zerg truly worthy of being queen.

She was surprised at the lack of pain. She had fully expected one last agonizing experiment, but the Evolution Master told her that the entity he was cloned from, Abathur, had already done all such experimentation on the human who became the Queen of Blades. That queen had mandated that any future such metamorphoses apply an anesthetic.

Alma was uncommonly patient, having learned far too early in life that she couldn't – and would likely never – get what she wanted, especially not when she wanted. Still, she wondered what was taking so long.

"Human strands flawed. Inflexible. Correcting damage from abuse, experimentation. Removing strands unnecessary to Zerg. Adjusting physiology."

Whatever else changed, Alma asked to keep her hair. She'd always liked her hair.

"Request acceptable," the Evolution Master replied, and Alma was happy.

Hours later, when night had fallen, the Evolution Master announced that his work was complete, and that Alma was now the queen of the Zerg.

What stepped out of the mutagenic pool was, at first glance, mostly human, but as the saying goes, "the devil is in the details."

Her feet looked normal apart from the elongated, spiked heel, until her toes revealed their retractable talons. Alma's skin had been covered, if not outright replaced, by greenish-brown chitin plates attached to a flexible purple membrane. Her hands only had three thick fingers now, but each of them could move in opposition to the others, and each was tipped with a retractable claw.

But perhaps the biggest changes were those that she knew she had, but wasn't using yet. While the Queen of Blades had her bony wings, Alma, living on a planet that was two-thirds ocean, had retractable fins to swim with and concealed gills on her neck to breathe underwater.

Remarkably little had changed about Alma's face and head. Her skin was still pale, and she still had her raven hair, but her eyes were different.

They had always been a bit different – very few people had orange eyes after all – but now it was as if a perpetual inferno was burning in her irises, a sign of her vast psionic powers, only enhanced by her addition to the Swarm.

For the moment though, Alma was in awe. It felt like she was _everywhere_ and knew _everything_. Her mind had brushed against the Hive Mind before, but to be part of it was something else entirely. Before she had known that the Hive Mind was connected to all Zerg, but now she was _aware_.

Everything with Zerg genetic material, from the lowly fungal virus of the Creep up to the towering Ultralisk, and from the highest Overlord to the deepest of underwater Drones was connected and acted as one for the good of the Swarm. She could _see_ the two thirds of the world now dominated by the Zerg without moving from where she stood, she could _feel_ everything that they were touching.

Her senses and all those that the Zerg had that she didn't threatened to overwhelm her. Kerrigan had never experienced such a moment for the simple fact that she was not as psionically powerful as Alma. Kerrigan did have more control thanks to her Ghost training, and the Hive Mind stepped in, lowing the intensity of what Alma could sense, moving it to the back of her mind where it could be a comforting presence, not an overwhelming sensation.

Alma collapsed, not from pain, exhaustion, or the shock from her moment of oneness with her brood, but from how loved she felt. This was what family was supposed to be. This is what she had always wanted. There were no negative emotions here, only a desire to serve the Swarm.

And now the Swarm served her.

* * *

The Swarm was utterly unstoppable under Alma's command. At the front lines, she could not only read the minds of the people planning enemy movements, she could dissolve the flesh from their bones, leaving them nothing but a puddle of gore. And that was only using the trick she'd learned when she finally started rebelling against her father and Armacham. The Hive Mind gave her some of its implanted memories of Kerrigan's powers, and with those she could blast apart tanks with her mind, or launch bolts of psionic energy from her hands that flayed her enemies alive.

But things changed when Alma found her sons.

They'd been taken from her, had no memory of her, and been forged into weapons. The younger one, Paxton Fettel, was like her, and Armacham – and then its US military contacts – had tried to create a human hive mind to fight back against the Zerg. And the elder they had not bothered to name. He was only the Point Man to them, a weapon with greater than normal strength and reflexes.

At first she was so livid that she'd ordered the Swarm to fall back from her position to bait the enemy into attacking, and when they'd fallen for her trap she had torn them apart in the most sadistic and nightmare inducing ways that she could imagine.

Invisible spikes impaled them, then split down the middle, bifurcating soldiers. Phantoms appeared to snatch them out of thin air and took them into some hellish ether where only their echoing screams could escape.

Having not had twenty-one years of isolation in a vault to practice, this was the first time Alma's psionic powers had created constructs in the real world.

But after her rampage she forgot all about that. It didn't matter. She felt John (as she'd named the Evolution Master) bring her sons into the Swarm. They were a family again and nothing could ever tear them apart again.

Paxton embraced his new life easily, helped along by his previous connections to his mother's mind, but Thomas (as she'd named her other son) was more hesitant. The beatings and the conditioning had taken their toll on his mind and he'd begun to develop a form of Stockholm Syndrome towards his abusers.

It broke Alma's heart to see him afraid of her, but it would be okay. They were Zerg now. They would always be together, they would live forever, and someday her son would recover.

One day her mind was taken off of family for a moment by an encounter on the front lines. North America was the only continent that was still mostly Zerg free; it was simply the way of the Swarm to remove all weaker enemies from the field before going after the one with the most resources and defenses, but Alma still held a grudge.

Armacham had had contacts in the US government. There had been and still were people there who had no problems with what had happened to her.

That was why she was on the front lines in the first place. Normally she'd be able to easily exterminate the enemy defenses, but for once she was locked in psychic combat.

This man, this Michael Becket, had been subjected to a test meant to make him a psychic on par with her; he'd been a mediocre one before, now he was mighty.

It would have been successful if she were still human, but John's ability to manipulate genetics had elevated her far beyond even what she had once been.

She was simply out of his league… but something about him excited her, and awoke new and strange urges.

The Zerg knew what she wanted. John's predecessor, Abathur, had extensively studied human reproductive systems for any possible use for the Zerg.

So Alma took him right there on the battlefield after subduing his mind… unfortunately, in her enthusiasm for the act she killed him, but not before she had acquired his genetic material.

But pregnant or not, the encounter with Becket had awoken a new urge, and the Swarm now had another purpose from their queen: to capture eligible bachelors for her pleasure.

Any male psychic strong enough for Alma to detect was eligible, and these men were all subjected to John's extensive mutagenic process, designed to instill a combination of obedience to the Swarm, psionic power, love and lust for Alma, and (to put it delicately) the ability to handle more than one round with their queen.

Zerg did not judge. They merely obeyed. As Abathur had once said to Kerrigan, "Queen's purpose is Swarm's purpose."

Nine month's passed, but even though the Swarm had conquered the entire world and Alma had a stable of mutated lovers, as she prepared to give birth all was not well.

There were no Zerg therapists, and though connected to the Hive Mind, Alma was still an individual with emotions.

Specifically, her fear that her child would be taken away – that somehow, Harlan Wade (that man was not her father and she refused to acknowledge him as such) would return and take it away.

And in a terrible way she was right.

The manifestations started small. A Larva or Drone would die suddenly and try as they might the Zerg could find no explanation. Then the hallucinations started. Zerg attacked entities that only some of them could see, a situation that caused considerable stress and strain on the Hive Mind given that it could both see and not see the creatures being attacked.

Shades of Armacham guards began to appear, augmented into monsters by Alma's unconscious mind. Physical attacks could dispel them, but they would simply reappear elsewhere and attack other Zerg.

Despite ruling the planet, the Zerg were under siege by monsters of the mind.

As Alma began her contractions, the walls between her mind and the real world shattered, a crimson tear in the sky releasing a flood of imaginary demons bent on one goal: taking Alma's family away by any means necessary.

The Zerg would not permit that. Every combat-ready Zerg on planet Earth converged on the Tear, and monsters fought demons for dominion over the world, and thousands of Drones gathered around Alma to morph into Spine and Spore Crawlers.

Alma was in no condition to lead the armies, and indeed she and her existing children had to be protected at all costs, so it fell to the Hive Mind – the psionic "ghost" of the original Larva – to coordinate and command the Zerg.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the Zerg beat Alma's inner demons back into the portal leading to Alma's unconscious, but that wasn't enough. It was still a threat that could come back at any time.

Zerg did not suffer threats to live.

The Swarm charged into the physical tear leading into the Almaverse – the horrible, twisted realm of nightmares and dark memories of abuse, neglect, and experimentation – and did what they do best: killed.

Ultralisk's grappled with inner demons and Vipers pulled nightmares out of the shadows. Numberless Zerglings tore into legions of shades of nameless and faceless guards and scientists who had enabled Alma's mistreatment as a child.

All was going well, and then _he_ came.

It did not matter that the specter looked nothing like the real Harlan Wade. All Zerg knew through the Hive Mind that it was an avatar of Harlan Wade and thus needed to be destroyed at all costs. Zerglings swarmed, Roaches spat acid, Hydralisks firing barbs from behind them. Thousands of them were crushed by the colossal manifestation's arms at once, but were instantly replaced, and each time the spirit laid down a hand, Ultralisks assaulted it.

In the air – or whatever passed as air in a false reality connected to a real one – Viper's spewed clouds of gas to inhibit the monster's vision, as Mutalisks and Corrupters focused their fire on the entity's head.

Infestors burrowed close to the horror and bogged it down with their fungal growths, and both within and without Swarm Hosts spawned millions of Locusts at once to attack the beast.

Every attack made the shadow of Harlan Wade weaker, but every contraction made him stronger as Alma's fears grew more intense.

The battle raged for hours and an endless tide of Zerg poured into the Breach. Wade's ghost would need to murder an entire planet to hurt Alma again.

And even as she struggled through the pain of birth, Alma suddenly understood that fact, and realized just how little Harlan mattered anymore.

Her fear gone, the shade withered and died, and the Zerg, sensing that their mission was complete, began to leave exit through the Tear back into the real world.

As Alma reached out to hold her third baby boy, and for the first time held one of her own infants in her arms, the portal sealed.

Given that billions of Zerg had charged into the Almaverse over the course of the battle, not all of them made it out, and those that remained were unmoving, maintaining a constant vigilance over their queen's unconscious mind, there to destroy any more fears should they take shape, and by their presence make sure that their queen knew that she would never be alone again.

As a result it was a calmer, saner Alma who lead the Zerg into the Leviathans that would carry them to other worlds. With every need and desire fulfilled, and her emotional scars fading, she was ready to take her family out into the universe.

Alma Wade had finally gotten her "happily ever after."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course, Alma's happily ever after involves the extinction of humanity and both mind rape and regular rape of any strong psychic men, so it's still high octane nightmare fuel as far as I'm concerned.
> 
> That said, I think I need to justify why this played out like it did. I've watched a full walkthrough of the F.E.A.R. Trilogy and I refreshed my memory using the wiki, and I have to say that Alma's motives are surprisingly simple.
> 
> She wants revenge on Armacham. They experimented on her since she was 3 with her dad urging them on and continued more or less nonstop until she was around 8, when they stuffed her in a vault and only let her out to give birth until pulling the plug on her at age 26 because she was encouraging Fettel to kill people. This was a no brainer.
> 
> In the second game, she "covets" Becket because, despite being dead, she's been woken up for the longest time in ages and has all these new urges and desires. She's horny and has no explanation but what she can read from the minds of people around her vault, and no experience with a remotely healthy or happy home or relationship, hence her going for rape and not seduction.
> 
> Finally, in the last game in what must be the canon ending (because let's face it, pure evil is never the canon ending), Alma sees the Point Man pick up her baby and smile, then fades away. Even after all she's been through, all she wants is for her baby to live and have a good future – in other words what she never got to have but could probably seen in the minds of all the people around her.
> 
> Alma was twisted by the desire for vengeance and experimentation that pushed her towards violent uses of her powers, but in the end she just wanted a happy ending for herself and her family (excluding Harlan Wade for obvious reasons), and that is shockingly easy to relate to from a woman whose mere existence is treated as an apocalyptic problem in the games.


	5. Potter Brood, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was intended as a one-shot, but grew so large that I split it into 3 parts.

Sixteen year old Harry James Potter was in the Forbidden Forest. He had snuck out of the castle in his invisibility cloak to clear his head and vent some frustration.

Voldemort and his Death Eaters were out there killing more and more people, the ministry was arresting people left and right whether they were innocent or guilty just to look like they were doing something, and Draco Malfoy had clearly become a Death Eater, but no one, not even his friends, believed him.

When Dumbledore had told him that he would be teaching Harry, he'd been ecstatic at first. He thought that he would learn truly advanced magic, or proper occlumency, or something that would help him fight when Voldemort came to finish that accursed prophecy… but as always, Harry Potter simply wasn't that lucky.

Dumbledore was just teaching him about Tom Marvolo Riddle's family and early life. What was the point? Harry had a connection to the man in his scar, he could not understand him any more if he tried.

Harry suddenly froze as he heard the centaurs charging. At their last meeting they had been extremely hostile, and for a moment Harry feared that they had somehow seen him. Instead, they ran past him, one of them shouting, "The abomination is this way!"

Abomination? Had Voldemort started an attack on Hogwarts? It couldn't be, he hadn't had the slightest twinge in his scar, and Harry knew that Voldemort would have to be enraged beyond reason to attack Hogwarts.

Regardless, his "saving people thing," as Hermione called it, kicked it and he followed the centaur's trail as stealthily as he could; a fairly easy task given how loud they were being. Maybe he could help them and earn some good will. Unlikely as it was, maybe the centaurs were the "power he knows not."

It would make a lot more sense than love.

Harry arrived to see what must have been the entire centaur herd attacking some enormous tumor in a small crater, in the center of what looked like a puddle of grey slime. The thing was peppered in arrows and had clearly been under attack for quite some time; the entire structure was bleeding and shuddering, as if it were both alive and in tremendous pain.

"Harry James Potter, save me and I will give you the power to defeat Voldemort."

Harry looked around, panicked. He'd heard the voice loud and clear, but no one else had reacted. Was there another basilisk on the loose?

"Down here, at your feet."

Harry looked down and saw something like a large centipede the color of a failed potion wriggling towards him.

"I am speaking in your head, which is why no one else can hear me. Please, save me, and I will be able to help you."

Harry did not quite know why he grabbed the thing and pulled it under his cloak. It just sounded so desperate and looked so helpless.

It honestly reminded him of himself at the Dursley's before Hogwarts, yearning for some kind of escape.

Regardless of any reasoning behind his decision, almost as soon as he picked the thing up, the huge tumor collapsed into a pile of gore.

"What do you think it was Bane?"

"An ill omen from the stars. We must be more vigilant against trespass from now on, but for now we rest. That thing took all night to destroy, and I for one am exhausted."

In his head, the creature stated, "Nothing can be done here Harry. The safest option for both of us is to leave."

Since the creature could speak in his head, Harry tried to do the same.

"You do not possess the psionic power of telepathy, although I sense something similar. To answer some of your questions, I am a Zerg Larva, and I will explain everything in time, but is there somewhere safe that you can take me?"

Harry's first thought was the Room of Requirement, but it hadn't been responding properly for ages, and there really wasn't anywhere else… wait, yes there was: the Chamber of Secrets! But how would he get out of there once he was down the shaft? He couldn't exactly call for Fawkes. Damn it! Hermione always said he needed to use his brain more, so what else could fly? His broom!

Thinking at the creature despite not being a telepath, Harry tried to reassure it. "I know somewhere extremely safe for you, but I need to get my Firebolt so that I can leave it."

"Thank you Harry. I know that this is a large leap of faith on your part, but it truly is safest if I only answer your questions after we reach the Chamber of Secrets."

As quietly as possible, Harry snuck back into Gryffindor Tower, retrieved his broom from his trunk, and slipped back out, heading for Myrtle's bathroom. Once there, he found the snake on the sink and hissed, "Open," while praying that Myrtle was asleep. Then again, could ghosts sleep at all?

Shaking his head to clear out its useless thoughts, Harry got onto his Firebolt and flew down to the bottom of the chasm. Leaving his broom and cloak propped up against one of the cleaner parts of the wall, Harry took the Larva past the cave-in into the proper chamber.

Harry was startled to see that Slytherin's basilisk was just as he'd left it; it hadn't decayed at all. He wondered why, but put the thought from his mind.

"This place is perfect Harry, and I thank you for bringing me here. I must make a small confession now: I read through your memories and know that you have had poor experiences with others entering your mind. Do I have permission to enter your mind to more directly answer your questions?"

The Larva was shockingly considerate all things considered. Harry mentally agreed.

He was floored when the Larva began pouring images into his head of worlds beyond the stars and alien species. It answered his question of how it could help against Voldemort by showing what the Zerg were – insect-like creatures perfectly evolved for war. Harry saw visions of them tearing apart heavily armored men with large guns, and even tanks and mechanical suits. He saw Sarah Kerrigan become the Queen of Blades and lead the Zerg to victory over her betrayer, the tyrannical emperor Arcturus Mengsk, and then begin preparing for war with a creature she thought was a god.

Harry came out of the visions finding himself on the chamber floor, breathing hard. One thing was certain: there was no way Voldemort could possibly know about these things, so that was a point in favor of them being part of the prophecy… but he'd seen what the Larva was asking. Could Harry really become one of them? He had no illusions; he would have to start killing, it was in the Zerg's nature, but could he really do that?

"I see that you have doubts Harry. With your permission, I would like to show you one more vision: a message from the Queen of Blades to an individual such as yourself."

Harry agreed, and found himself face-to-face (in a way) with Sarah Kerrigan, in all her infested glory.

"If you're seeing this, then you are both something similar to a Terran, and a pacifist being forced into a war." Her voice had an echoing quality to it. Even though this was just a memory, Harry could almost feel the power in it. As for being a pacifist… Harry didn't think of himself that way, he just didn't want to kill. Did that make him a pacifist by the Zerg's way of reckoning? Otherwise the memory was correct.

"I know what you are thinking. The Zerg are violent, brutal, how could you join them and not be changed? There is one thing you must remember: to their leader, the Zerg are a willing tool. Zerg kill to survive because that is how they adapt, but if you lead the Swarm you can make them do anything. I would know; I've been bored enough to make them dance for me."

Harry laughed as a Zerg beside her began breakdancing.

"The point is that if you are watching this, you are a candidate to become the Swarm's leader. Will you be changed?" She gestured to herself. "Physically, I can almost guarantee it. But the metamorphosis will not change who you are. The Zerg live to serve – as one of them told me not so long ago, my purpose is their purpose – they will change to suit you. The choice is yours now."

The vision ended and Harry found himself once again in the Chamber of Secrets, the Larva beside him.

Harry thought hard about Kerrigan's message, briefly imagining his own body changing to match hers. He suspected that even in the magical world he would stand out looking like that. But more importantly, the Zerg would not change who he was.

"I'll do it," he decided. "I'll become one of the Zerg."

"Excellent Harry, but there is one problem now," the Larva informed him.

"Let me guess. That thing the centaurs tore apart was important, wasn't it?" Harry felt his stomach drop. Fate just wouldn't make things easier for him.

"The loss of the Hatchery is unfortunate, but not one that the Swarm cannot recover from. It simply provides you with another choice: I can turn you into a Zerg as was my intended purpose, and you will have to find a way to spawn a Hatchery at a later time; or I can morph into a Hatchery here in the chamber, but you will not be connected to the Hive Mind yet, and will have to become a Zerg later."

"Wait a moment, if you turn me into a Zerg, and there aren't any more of you, how would I create a Hatchery?"

"I would have to modify your physiology to be able to spawn at least one Drone, which could slowly collect biomass until it could metamorphose."

Harry suddenly imagined himself having to give birth to alien creatures.

"No, no, I'm not doing that. You morph into a Hatchery, I'll deal with the repercussions of that decision later."

The Larva accepted his decision and moved near the center of the chamber, not far from the basilisk's corpse, and suddenly erupted into a purple pustule that reminded Harry far too much of the bubotubers in fourth year. Over the next several minutes the pustule expanded until with a pop it finally erupted into the same structure that Harry had seen in the forest, and began secreting the same grey goop across the floor.

"Harry."

"You can still talk to me?"

"Yes, but only at close range in this state. I do not possess the biomass to spawn a Drone, and the Creep cannot seem to digest the remains of the basilisk creature. You must find a way to feed me organic material."

Harry paused, stumped. Organic material. Besides the basilisk where would he get any of that?

"Of course! The chamber's entrance has a mountain of rat bones. Will those work?"

"For the time being, but I sense this planet's dawn approaching, and from your memories you have appearances to keep."

"Damn it! I want to stay and help, but you're right, I need to get out of here. Hang on… Dobby!"

The house elf appeared with a pop, excitedly saying "Mister Harry Potter Sir, what can Dobby be doing for you Sir!"

Dobby did the slightest of double-takes at the sight of the Hatchery, but on seeing that Harry was relaxed around it paid it no more attention.

"Dobby, I know I'm not your owner, but I have a job for you and I'll pay you for it, with money or socks, whichever you'd prefer, especially since its rather strange."

The elf was bouncing up and down happily, chanting "Anything!" over and over.

"This chamber is full of bones. I need you to feed all of the bones, to that thing," he pointed at the Hatchery. At prompting from the voice of the Zerg, Harry continued, "You may have to clean up the chamber to find all of them, but if you do, there are a few things to remember: don't touch the basilisk, I'll deal with that later, and see this gray slime?"

Dobby nodded.

"Don't clean that up. It's supposed to be there. Finally, keep this as secret as possible; I don't think the headmaster would approve of this. If there is anything else, I think that the Zerg will tell you more, I've got to go now."

"Zerg?" Dobby asked.

"Hello Dobby," the Larva, er, Hatchery said.

Harry was gone before he could see the elf's reaction.

Back in the girls' loo, Harry found Myrtle waiting for him looking rather cross.

"It's been nearly four years since you visited my toilet, and the first thing you do is go down there without so much as saying 'hello?' How rude. I thought we were friends. I kept your secret when you were brewing potions in here, helped you with your clue in the Triwizard Tournament, and even helped you during the task. Why shouldn't I simply report you to the headmaster for creeping into girls' loos after curfew?"

Harry's instinctive reaction was to threaten to tell Dumbledore about her habit of spying on the prefects bathroom, but he forced down his anger and tried to make amends. He couldn't afford to have a ghost making a fuss about things here.

"Myrtle," he whispered, "I'm very sorry I haven't visited more, but I've been told off for looking like I was about to come in here," a half truth. Percy had told off Ron – Harry only by association – one time back in second year. "I admit I haven't been a good friend, but I promise that I'll be coming around a lot more often now. So can you keep this a secret?"

It seemed that for once Harry had said just the right thing, and Myrtle attempted to hug him, giving the sensation of being dunked in cold bathwater, before swooning and diving back into her toilet with a splash. Letting out a sigh of relief, Harry closed the chamber (guessing that he only had to hiss "Close") then sped back to Gryffindor Tower to keep up the appearance of normality.

He wasn't sure how Ron would react to even the idea of aliens, and Hermione would probably tell him that he should report them to the professors. He doubted they'd even believe him unless he took them down to the chamber; they wouldn't even believe him about a little thing like Malfoy being a Death Eater.

He got through the day with minimal questioning. He considered just ditching defense entirely now that Snape was in charge, but thought better of it. Knowing Snape, he'd probably cancel the class to go hunting for him, and now that Harry had such a big secret he wanted as little of Snape's attention as possible.

That night he went back to the bathroom, greeted Myrtle to placate her and told her as little as he could that would satisfy her, mostly about his day. Earning her silence took longer than he hoped, but eventually he got down into the Chamber of Secrets. At the bottom, he was glad that he'd flown down on his Firebolt. Dobby had been busy and now there didn't seem to be a tower of bones to catch someone who fell, or even a pool of slime.

Harry continued down the dark passages, lighting his way with his wand. The old snakeskin and the rubble from when Ron's old wand had backfired on Lockhart were still there, so apparently Dobby had his limits, but so far everything else was spotless.

Harry entered the main chamber and saw that apparently the bones had been more than adequate, or plentiful enough to compensate for being a poor resource. The slime now encompassed all of the chamber that did not touch the basilisk, and a strange, bug-like figure tended the Hatchery. Beneath Salazar Slytherin's face, just beside the basilisk's head, a second, smaller abscess was currently growing.

As soon as he had set foot on the Creep, the familiar voice greeted him.

"The Swarm thanks you for providing the assistance of Dobby. The house elf has been invaluable in gathering biomass. Even without harvesting the basilisk, we gathered enough resources to morph the Evolution Pit."

Harry guessed that they were referring to the pustule beneath Slytherin's face.

"Where is Dobby anyway?"

The bug-like creature turned around to reveal that it was more accurate to call it some kind of bug-centaur; the upper half was humanoid, though definitely not human, but the bottom was clearly a bug.

"I convinced the house elf that you would wish for him to rest," the creature, a Queen according to the Hatchery's voice, spoke English, but with what Harry could only describe as a chittering accent slipping through. "For a non-Zerg entity, his dedication to the completion of his tasks is admirable. When the time comes, you should permit him to join the Swarm."

"Joining the Zerg is his choice to make, just as it was mine," Harry stated firmly.

"He spoke with the Hive Mind after you left the chamber. He has already expressed his wish to become Zerg at the same time that you do."

Harry wasn't sure what to say to that, but he was distracted from thinking of a proper response by the disgusting rupturing sound that seemed to announce a Zerg structure's completion. He looked towards it and saw a much larger structure than the one he'd seen when he walked in, one with its own entrance and interior.

He might have gone in if not for the fact that something came out. In the dim lighting of the chamber Harry saw something that appeared to be equal parts slug and caterpillar, provided either of those could stand upright. A mix of purple, gray, and blue hues were scattered across it, interrupted around its head by bright green pustules. The creature also seemed to have six pairs of limbs: four tiny, mantid-like claws on its lower body; four three-fingered hands on its upper body; and four spearlike limbs reminiscent of a spider's legs erupting from its back.

Harry was unable to conceal his distaste. The creature was nearly as repulsive as the blast-ended skrewts. Nearly.

"What are you?" Harry asked.

"Am Evolution Master. Examine strands, remove flaws, add improvements." Harry noticed that the gaping hole where its face ought to be moved when it spoke in its unexpectedly deep voice, marking that as the creature's mouth.

The Hatchery, or its voice, (that was getting confusing) expanded on the questions running through Harry's mind.

"The Evolution Master is a clone of Abathur, an identical organism that acted as an advisor to the Queen of Blades. Given a goal, the Evolution Master will evolve the Zerg to meet it. It is also the creature that make you a Zerg."

"I'm not going to look like that when I've become a Zerg, am I?" Harry asked, gesturing to the Evolution Master.

"Appearance meaningless. Efficiency more important."

Harry started to panic, but once again the Hive Mind soothed him, stating, "You can make requests regarding how much or how little you want to be changed, and the Evolution Master will obey."

Harry relaxed. He didn't want to become a giant alien bug monster.

"Alright, first, I'm going to call you Darwin, because I don't want to keep saying Evolution Master, second, I want you to call me Harry, and third I want to look exactly as I do right now, understand? No changes to my appearance. With that in mind, how long will it take to change me?"

"Must examine strands to make determination. Organism Harry must provide tissue sample or enter mutagen pool," Darwin replied.

Shying away from the idea of a mutagen pool, Harry waved his wand near his head and removed some hair. It would grow back by morning. Or so he hoped. He gave the hair to the Darwin.

Much to Harry's confusion and mild disgust, Darwin ate the clump of hair, and then began making comments, not about flavor but Harry's genetics.

"Errors in optical receptor strands. Will correct. Similar inefficiencies to Terran strands. Replace with Zerg strands. Better. Unique difference. Genes similar to psionics in Terrans. Likely source of magical abilities. Will examine for use in Swarm. Full Zerg conversion in five hours."

"Good, I have six, so what do I have to do?"

"Enter mutagen pool in Evolution Pit."

Harry followed Darwin into the pit, and, seeing the bubbling green slime, removed his clothes and placed them in a corner before submerging himself. It was warm, and the texture was frankly disgusting, but this was what needed to happen if he was to defeat Voldemort, so he endured.

"Mutagens contain anesthetics at command of Queen of Blades. Organism Harry may be conscious or unconscious, but nociceptors will be inactive."

Harry was grateful for that. He wasn't sure if he could fall asleep in a substance so gross, but since the process would take five hours he ought to try.

Somehow he did fall asleep. He was awoken by a sense of presence in the back of his mind; not like when he got visions from Voldemort. This was almost… comforting.

"Organism Harry's changes minimal. Optimized muscle fibers. Corrected optical receptors. Improved digestive efficiency, neural pathways."

Harry could see clearly, and he felt stronger, but the biggest change was that he could now sense the Zerg all around him… including one directly overhead.

"What is that and when did it get there?"

Harry immediately realized he didn't need to ask out loud as the information flowed directly into his mind. It was an Overlord, a creature meant to strengthen the Hive Mind so that it could manage more Zerg, and it had been spawned while Harry was becoming a Zerg. It took up a lot of the remaining space at the top of the chamber, and space was going to become a problem soon.

"May I try something?" Harry asked the rest of the Hive Mind.

"The Swarm is yours Harry. You need not ask permission for your will is the will of the Zerg."

"Right. Reducio!"

He aimed his wand at the Overlord and it shuddered a bit then shrank a little, but not enough to make any meaningful difference.

"Darwin," he called to the creature examining the basilisk corpse, "whenever you're not studying the snake, figure out a way to make the Overlords smaller. We can't afford to let any of them leave the chamber yet, even if we find a way to let them out. Also, whenever Dobby comes back, he can join the Swarm if he likes, but whatever changes you make to him, he still has to fit in with the other house elves, alright?"

The Hive Mind sent Harry an affirmative message, as Darwin was currently engrossed in trying to solve the problem of the basilisk. Harry left to deal with another day, pausing at the rubble pile to transfigure a set of glasses to look like his old ones. He didn't fancy explaining why he suddenly didn't need to wear them anymore.

During the middle of lunch, Harry felt a new presence in the Swarm, and mere moments later he heard the voice of Dobby in his mind.

Being part of the Zerg with "Mister Harry Potter Sir" was apparently beyond his wildest dreams, and the bond with the Hive Mind was superior to the one between a house elf and its owner. For one thing, the Swarm always had a task for him, and the Hive Mind regulated his pace so that he never had to actually stop.

Harry did his best not to chuckle at nothing in particular and went on with his day.

He spent time after classes were over with Ron and Hermione, dodging questions about his whereabouts and activities by pretending that he'd been investigating Malfoy more. The two simply shook their heads and let him be after that, which was both what Harry expected and wanted.

The next day was a Hogsmeade weekend, but Harry opted not to go, pretending that he still had homework to do. Ron accepted the explanation because sixth year had been so grueling thus far, but Hermione gave him a strange look. Not sure that she'd investigate him, but not wanting to take the chance, Harry took the Marauders' Map when he went down to the Chamber of Secrets that day.

As he descended, he was almost knocked off his broom by a wave of happiness, as if he'd been hit by a powerful cheering charm. Even more strangely, when he looked into the Hive Mind, the culprit was not Dobby, but the seemingly emotionless Darwin.

"Breakthrough. Zerg can now assimilate, digest basilisk venom."

"That's great! What was stopping that before?"

"Venom in all tissues. Toxic to decay-causing microbes. No analogue in Zerg history. Many changes to digestive process made."

"So does that mean you can replicate the basilisk."

"Soon. Must consume. Examine strands."

"Alright, what about the Overlord problem?"

"Solution simple. Sacrifice transport sacs. Overlord size reduced."

"Reduced by how much? Will enough of them fit in the chamber?"

The Hive Mind answered this time.

"The Overlords are now more akin to party balloons than blimps Harry. The Swarm will be able to spawn all it needs until we can leave the chamber. Even the Overlord you saw last time has shrunk down."

Harry saw a group of Overlords through the eyes of another, and they were much, much smaller.

Squeezing past the rubble pile, Harry entered the chamber itself and saw Darwin tearing pieces off of the basilisk's tongue and devouring them.

"Any luck incorporating my magic 'strands' or Dobby's?"

Darwin swallowed the last of the tongue and almost growled. Harry felt frustration rolling off of him. "No. Strands similar to psionics, conflict with necessary psionic reception strands in Zerg organisms."

"Hold on, if that's the case, then how did Dobby or I become Zerg?" Harry was truly baffled right now. Darwin seemed to be telling him that magical Zerg wouldn't be able to connect to the Hive Mind, but he and Dobby were connected and they were connected to the Swarm.

"Psionic reception weaker in Organism Harry and Organism Dobby. Connection to Hive Mind 'off' unless focused on. Normal Zerg must always be connected."

"So Dobby and I can be both magical and Zerg because we can act independently?"

"Statement simplified, but correct."

"Then why not make more independent Zerg?"

Darwin almost seemed… angered… by the question. "Hive Mind is Zerg. Without connection, am beast, not Zerg."

Harry was briefly stunned. This didn't sound like a biological limitation, this sounded like an almost religious conviction. He tried to reason with Darwin.

"Darwin, you said before that Dobby and I had become Zerg. Now you're saying that because we don't always rely on the Hive Mind that we aren't Zerg. Which is it?"

Darwin didn't answer. The paradox seemed to agitate him. Remembering Kerrigan's advice that the Zerg would change to suit him, Harry said, "Darwin, as leader of the Swarm, I am ordering you to make the Zerg more independent so that they can make use of magic. Start with her." Harry pointed at the Queen, who looked surprised, and Harry addressed her next, "Your name is now Maeve, and Darwin is going to weaken your connection to the Hive Mind so that you can use magic. Dobby!"

The elf appeared with a pop, and as Harry expected he hadn't changed in the least.

"Dobby, this Queen is now named Maeve, and she's going to be the first pure Zerg to use magic. Since her connection to the Hive Mind will be weaker, you might have to teach her about it when the time comes."

"Yes, Harry Potter Sir!"

"Darwin," Harry looked back to the Evolution Master, "I don't know about its venom, but the basilisk's gaze is a magical ability. If you want to replicate it, then what I am commanding you to do right now is something you would have always had to do, so I don't want you to resist this idea any more, understand?"

"Yes, Organism Harry."

"Now, are there any other issues in the Swarm that I need to know about?"

The voice of the Hive Mind chimed in, "Once the basilisk has been fully processed, the resources in the Chamber of Secrets will be exhausted, and our needs will exceed what Dobby can remove from the kitchens without arousing suspicion. We must find a way into the Forbidden Forest."

Harry sat on the chamber floor and put his head in his hands. He could think faster since Darwin had changed him, but that did not actually make him any smarter, so he struggled for ideas. The forest really was the only option, but how would they get out of the chamber undetected?

"Are there any Zerg capable of making tunnels?"

"Roaches, but their tunnels collapse behind them. If you wish for the Swarm to tunnel out, we will have to spawn a Nydus Worm. The Hatchery must become a Lair, however, and the first entrance to the Nydus Network created. These are rather expensive as resources go."

"Damn it!"

The more Harry thought the more hopeless things began to look, every scenario he could envision led to the Zerg being discovered and killed, or being discovered and then killing everyone.

"If the Swarm slowly collected mass from food that Dobby provided, how long would it take before all of that could be accomplished?"

"At the current rate consumption, the basilisk will provide enough resources to morph the Lair within the hour, but after that the rate of resource acquisition slows until the suggested goals could only be reached in a month's time."

One month. An entire additional thirty days of Voldemort killing muggles and wizards alike. The only other way would be… no. That could not possibly work. It was far too dangerous.

"What is too dangerous Harry? You are unconsciously blocking the Zerg from accessing your current thoughts. We must remind you that Zerg are meant for war, to kill and die in service to the Swarm."

"I know that, but in this case all the danger is directed at Dobby!"

"What is your plan Harry Potter Sir? Dobby is willing to do anything for Master Harry and his Swarm."

Harry sighed, seeing no other way.

"Dobby, I'm going to show you some of my memories before I tell you my plan, and I want you to know that whether I'm your master or not at this point I think of you as a friend and you have every right to refuse to participate."

Dobby's expression was equal parts awe, admiration, and renewed determination, making Harry sigh again.

He opened his mind to the Swarm, and showed them his and Ron's encounter with the acromantula colony in the Forbidden Forest.

When he ceased the vision, Dobby was already holding him and sobbing, "Master Harry went into such danger for his friends!"

"Acromantula colony potential source of resources, useful strands."

"That was what I thought," Harry admitted, "But Dobby is the only one here who can apparate in Hogwarts and even if he can, it's too dangerous to teleport an acromantula into the chamber."

Dobby ceased hugging Harry and was staring at him with that determined look on his face again. "Harry Potter Sir wants an acromantula for the Swarm?"

"Dobby," Harry said hurriedly, "You can say no if you want to, but yes. My idea was that if you could, you could bring acromantulas into the chamber so that the Zerg could eat them and accumulate enough resources for this Nydus Network so that they can get into the forest on their own."

Dobby popped away without a word. Several minutes passed, but Harry was dimly aware of the Dobby looking through the forest, and of the Hatchery preparing a group of Zerglings.

As the first dozen Zerglings hatched, Dobby returned with an acromantula the size of a car, and the result was immediate chaos.

The spider whirled around to lunge at Dobby who blasted it back with a bang where it landed on its back beside the Zerglings, which instantly went for the unfortunate creature's legs, apart from one that tore off the head.

Three seconds of absolute bedlam, and the spider was in nine different pieces. A few Drones morphed in and pulled it to the Hatchery.

"Dobby, are you alright?"

The Zerg house elf was grinning broadly, but Harry could see that he looked tired.

"Since I can't stop you from doing that again, I want you to get some rest before you do it any more, okay? And now I have to ask the Hive Mind, was that worth it?"

"Yes. Based on Dobby's current metabolic needs, he will be capable of retrieving an acromantula of similar size within three hours. At that rate, the Nydus Network will be complete and a Nydus Worm ready for production in five days."

Bizarrely, Dobby's grin got even bigger.


	6. Potter Brood, Part 2

Five days later Harry was more frustrated than ever. The day he'd skipped out on going to Hogsmeade Katie Bell had come into contact with a cursed necklace and nearly died, and the staff still didn't suspect Draco. It seemed that Draco's years of loud boasting and inaction had accidentally become the most Slytherin of cover stories; he was viewed as either too incompetent or too obvious to be behind anything.

He had also had another "lesson" with Dumbledore, and learned only that the old man should never have allowed Riddle into Hogwarts. Even as a child in the orphanage he was a sadistic and cruel person.

Worse on a personal level, Ron and Hermione's relationship was once again on the rocks. Since Ron was not invited to the Slug Club's upcoming Christmas party his jealousy had flared and been turned on Hermione, and when he'd lashed out she'd struck back at him.

The only good thing was that Dobby had finally taken enough acromantulas to the Zerg for the Nydus Worm to be ready. Harry had intially had doubts about how helpful a worm could be, then the Hive Mind had revealed in visions that it was a colossal creature capable of transporting other Zerg from place to place through its innards.

Harry had mixed feelings about the Swarm going into the forest. He knew that they needed to do it, and he was glad that they would no longer need so much micromanagement from him since they weren't stuck in the chamber, but he was worried.

He'd gotten them to promise to give the centaurs a warnings if they attacked. The first group to attack the Swarm would be left unconscious but alive. The second would be left wound. The Swarm would take the offensive if there were a third attack; that had been as much as he could get them to promise. Pacifism simply wasn't the Zerg way.

Darwin in particular was miffed that Harry wouldn't let him convert a tree into a Virophage, which would eventually convert the rest of the Forbidden Forest into Zerg. The Evolution Master was particularly interested in the unicorns and Thestrals. In his own words, "Unicorn blood curse likely in strands. Could remove. Remaining properties beneficial. Thestral conditional invisibility useful."

Harry also told them to never hurt Hagrid, but to hide as much as they could from him. Hagrid would probably try to adopt the Zerg rather than hurt them, but even if he tried to keep them a secret he'd probably mention them to Dumbledore, who Harry was trusting less and less.

Harry wasn't any smarter since becoming a Zerg (he didn't think so anyway) but he could think things through faster, and get to conclusions more quickly. Dumbledore seemed to want to highlight what was different about Voldemort and Harry, but Harry wasn't quite sure he liked where that was going. Voldemort's ultimate goal was to defeat death; what was the opposite of that? Rolling over and dying? Harry was willing to die to defeat Voldemort, but he wouldn't just throw his life away. He still wanted to live after the war was over.

Back in the Chamber of Secrets again, Maeve emerged from the Evolution Pit with Darwin following her.

"I feel… so powerful right now."

Harry felt a pit growing in his stomach. If something went wrong, it was going to go wrong now.

"But I do not know how to harness this power. Teach me, my Lord, so that I may better serve the Swarm."

Harry let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Doing his best to ignored the steady stream of Drones carrying dead acromantulas back to the Lair, Harry addressed her.

"Whether or not I can teach you depends on whether your magic is more like mine or Dobby's. Darwin, do you remember whose strands you used?"

"Organism Dobby's strands predominant. Organism Dobby's abilities seemingly innate. Organism Harry's learned. One strand from Organism Harry added; appears to increase magical power."

"So according to Darwin you're as strong as me, but have Dobby's powers. Dobby!"

"Yes Harry Potter Sir?" Not even being part of the same species now could stop Dobby from calling Harry "sir."

"Can you teach Maeve how to use your type of magic?"

The Hive Mind stepped into the conversation, adding, "Harry, Dobby, it would be more efficient to simply give Maeve your memories of learning to use your abilities and letting her determine if she can use them."

That was a much better idea than having either of them standing around and lecturing her, so they did their best to open their minds to her.

Mere minutes later the memory transfer was complete, and at Harry's command Maeve attempted all of the spells and magical abilities she had seen.

She popped around the room, revealing that she had inherited the house elf's ability to apparate within Hogwarts, and pushed away a Zergling that had been called back to help her test her powers.

She could do everything that Dobby was capable of easily, but when she tried to perform wizarding spells…

"It feels as if the power wants to leave, but is unable to do so."

Harry thought for a moment.

"Maybe you can only cast those with a wand, but there isn't any way to get one."

"Query: what are wands?"

Harry didn't need the Hive Mind to know that was Darwin. He paused for a minute as he thought of an answer, and ultimately replied, "Wands are magical objects that witches and wizards use to channel their own magic to cast spells."

"Possess magic. Channel magic. Can replicate functions."

Harry looked at the Evolution Master with new respect, "You can make wands?"

"Wand does not need psionic connection, only magic. Similar to psionic energy. Can spawn symbiotic organism with wand properties."

"Do it as soon as you can."

Darwin went into the Evolution Pit, and soon after radiated a sense of satisfaction through the Zerg's psionic link. Then one of the Larvae became an egg sac and hatched into a long, slender, segmented creature. Receiving instructions through the Hive Mind, Maeve bent to pick it up and it latched onto the palm of her hand. Harry saw no reaction, but Maeve immediately pointed the wand-like creature at the nearby Zergling.

" _Wingardium leviosa_."

It was strange to hear a spell coming from the Queen's mouth, but it made no difference. The Zergling lifted into the air.

"Wandling. No psionic connection. Instinct to become symbiote. Curls into small ball when not needed. Channels magical energy through specialized tissues. Individual produced as test. Can spawn twenty per Larva."

"Darwin, this is incredible. This could change everything for me. I need… I need… hold on. I need to think before I do anything more. This is way too important to make a rushed decision."

Harry sat down, the full ramifications of what Darwin had just done running through his mind. His Zerg could cast spells now, at least the Queens and any other unit with the necessary hands. Harry hadn't done much research into rituals, especially since most of them required so many casters, but if he had a group of Queens assisting him, then he might be able to find and use rituals to strengthen himself, or to banish Voldemort. Was this the power he knew not? Dozens, maybe hundreds of Zerg all casting spells to overwhelm him?

Harry would think more on that later, for now he needed to check on the Swarm's overall progress.

"Darwin, how much progress have you made in incorporating magic into the Zerg?"

"Process complete. All Zerg organism possess magic. Weaker connection to Hive Mind, more independence. Additional instincts where needed. Many strands added, changed."

"Excellent work. Any luck replicating house elves or the basilisk? Or at least their abilities?"

"House elf abilities difficult to isolate in strands. Require additional house elf samples."

"And that isn't going to happen anytime soon. Alerting the house elves would alert the headmaster, and I can't have that. What about the basilisk?"

"Venom production strands isolated, added to Hydralisks. Killing gaze more difficult. Many magical genes. Incorporation into Zerg organism weakens psionic link to Hive Mind. Potentially feral."

Harry shuddered. It would be a serious problem if a Zerg with basilisk eyes turned on the rest of the Swarm. Suddenly, Harry remembered a lecture in care of magical creatures during the time that Professor Grubbly-Plank was teaching it. She'd talked about young animals imprinting on the first thing they saw… but that lead back to the problem of the stare. Maybe Darwin could solve that.

Sending him a mental explanation of his idea, Harry asked, "If that were possible, how would you keep the basilisk from killing other Zerg?"

"Multiple potential solutions. Imprint by smell, keep eyes closed outside of combat. Imprint by vision, primary eyes to see, secondary eyes for combat. Combination would increase safety of Organism Harry's solution. Problem. Organism Harry would have to be present for each creature's spawning."

That was a puzzler, but Harry seemed to be on a roll right now, and asked, "Is there a way to delay the creature's hatching? Some way to make sure it only spawns if I'm around?"

"Possible. Organism Harry's unique psionic signature stronger in close proximity. Trigger egg-breaking instinct with psionic presence."

"Good. Do that and let me know when it's ready."

During the next couple of weeks, Harry was so busy with schoolwork and Quidditch that he was unable to do more than give the Swarm a brief mental inspection. A Roach Warren and a Hydralisk Den were both created in the Forbidden Forest (there was simply no more room in the Chamber of Secrets), and Dobby's role in the Swarm expanded to include watching Hagrid to make sure that the Zerg could avoid him.

The centaurs also attacked twice. Leaving Harry on edge. The second time other Centaurs had seen how quickly and easily the Zerg incapacitated their melee fighters, so he hoped that they would stay away. If they didn't…

"Organism Harry should permit further examination of brain. Guilt useless emotion to Swarm. Can modify brain, remove emotion."

"No Darwin. If that's all, then get out of my head and get back to work… please."

"Organism Harry should also know, first Optolisk ready to hatch."

"The first what?"

"Optolisk. Incorporates basilisk strands for killing gaze, sense of smell. Additional acromantula strands for increased number of eyes. Eight nonlethal, four lethal. Capable of gazing, killing in all directions at once. Unable to make Swarm immune. Will experiment."

"I will be down there tonight."

The day passed rather quickly, with only Hermione's warnings about Romilda Vane and a few other girls planning to slip him love potion, and his decision to ask Luna Lovegood to Slughorn's Christmas party being the only events worth noting.

In the Chamber of Secrets once again, Harry almost didn't even notice that Maeve or one of the other Queens (there were several now, and Harry had resorted to naming all of them after witches on chocolate frog cards; so far he'd used Elladora, Babayaga, Cilodna, Dymphna, Ignatia, Wendelin, and Carlotta) had cleared the rubble and repaired the hallway leading in.

He approached the Lair and saw that the only egg remaining amid the group of Larvae was much more like a chicken's egg than the green membranous things most Zerg hatched from, but as a consequence it was quite large, looming over Harry almost ominously.

"So, you remembered to make sure it doesn't look at me with its killing eyes, right Darwin?"

"Yes."

"That was a rhetorical question, but that's good to know. Anything I have to do?"

"Approach egg. Should hatch."

Harry did so and he heard the first cracking sounds as the Optolisk began forcing its way out. After about five seconds, the shell fell away and the first of these new Zerg stepped out.

Harry didn't know what he expected, but this thing bore no resemblance to the original basilisk whatsoever. First and most obviously, it wasn't a snake. It appeared to be one solid, oddly smooth round body with currently closed armored eyelids all over, and it was supported by legs like the ones on the Roaches. He could only tell where the front of it was because there was a set of mandibles there.

Sensing his leader's confusion, Darwin commented, "Roach strands served as base. Smooth hide visual consequence of acromantula strands."

The mandibles parted and a forked tongue emerged, tasting the air, and the Optolisk turned to aim its front at Harry. It opened the two nonlethal yellow eyes above its mouth and they focused on Harry.

"Master," it hissed in faintly accented, almost childishly high pitched Parseltongue. The other nonlethal eyes began opening, "Hive," it said as it looked around. The eyes partially shut and the Optolisk managed to look like it was concentrating. "Hive Mind. All good."

Not sure how casual he wanted to be with anything that was part basilisk, Harry stepped up to it and patted the area between its mandibles and eyes while saying, "Yes, I'm your master and this is your hive. Now, er, go into the forest and wait there for the Hive Mind to let you know if your er, hive-mates need you."

"Yes Master." It waddled slowly into the Nydus Network.

Ignatia commented, "I could scarcely feel it connect to the Hive Mind. Are we certain that it can be trusted in battle?"

Before Harry could respond, Darwin seemed to start defending his work, almost snapping, "Optolisk is Zerg. Spun strands… but speech unintended. Movement meant to be faster."

This was something that Darwin had actually warned Harry about, but that he hadn't really noticed until now. Greater independence in the Queens caused them to gradually develop personalities, and Ignatia was the one that most reminded Harry of Hermione. The big difference was that where Hermione held the professors on a pedestal, for Ignatia it was the Hive Mind. Still, used to resolving, or at least being between arguments, Harry stepped in. "It doesn't matter. The Optolisk is part of the Swarm now as per my orders. And Darwin, it's okay that it can talk and that it moves slowly."

Unfortunately, Harry's ability to resolve conflict amongst the Zerg did not translate elsewhere. Ron had a falling out with Ginny when two of them saw her kissing Dean Thomas, and Ginny dealt Ron a powerful psychological blow about him having never been kissed while Ginny, Harry, and Hermione all had.

It translated into a poor performance on the Quidditch pitch, but when Harry pretended to give Ron the Felix Felicis potion before the match with Slytherin, he made things worse. Ron accused Hermione of not having faith in him and started going out with Lavender Brown, seriously hurting her feelings.

"Perhaps you should permit your friends to join the Swarm," suggested Babayaga, ironically the most motherly of the Queens. "There are is no jealousy or spite among the Zerg, and no pointless and confusing reproductive rituals."

Cringing and putting the image of Hermione and Ron reproducing out of his mind, Harry thought back, "No. Not yet anyway. I'll eventually have to tell everyone, but I want to put it off as long as possible – at least until the Zerg do some real good in the war."

Later that week Harry and Luna went to Slughorn's Christmas party and Harry found himself having a surprising amount of fun with her. Harry heard Malfoy attempting to gatecrash and saw Snape lead him away, but was distracted by a sudden alert from the Hive Mind.

"Harry, the centaurs are attacking force. This is the third time. The Swarm cannot afford to show mercy any longer."

Harry tried to keep himself from reacting as he sent back the message that he understood… and tried to ignore the agitation in the Zerg's collective consciousness whenever one of them was hurt, and the satisfaction when one of them made a kill.

"Harry," Luna's expression had lost some of its normal dreamy quality and she looked rather concerned, "There seem to be a lot of wrackspurts buzzing around your head right now. Are you alright?"

He did his best to clear his head and put on what he hoped was a soothing smile for his friend. "I'm fine Luna," Harry could hear the guilt in his own voice and quickly thought up an explanation, "I just thought of what Sirius would say if he knew I was at a party where Malfoy isn't considered good enough to get in."

Luna pulled him into a gentle hug.

They passed the rest of the party in companionable silence. Harry never found out what Snape and Malfoy spoke about in the other room, but reasoned that it was probably just Snape scolding his charge for getting caught without any real discipline applied.

At the Burrow for the holidays Harry had an encounter with Rufus Scrimgeour, the new Minister for Magic. It was tense and Scrimgeour wanted him to act as a poster boy for the ministry to raise public morale. Harry almost considered it, but rejected on the grounds that Stan Shunpike's arrest proved that it was arresting innocent people just to look like it was doing something, and Harry showed the scars on his hand: the ones that read "I must not tell lies."

On his return Harry had another lesson with Dumbledore. He learned that Voldemort had killed his father's whole family and then framed his uncle. The next memory was at least interesting; the young Tom Riddle asked Slughorn about "Horcruxes" and then the memory turned gray and foggy, with Slughorn bellowing that he knew nothing and would never tell. Dumbledore explained that the fog was a sign of a hurried tampering, and that he suspected Slughorn was ashamed of the memory's true contents. Harry's task was to convince Slughorn to provide the real memory.

Harry hid it well, at least he thought so, but he left that meeting more frustrated than ever. The headmaster had clearly known most – if not all – of this information well before revealing it to Harry, so why not just show him all of it at once? And Harry had no doubt that the professor at least knew what Horcruxes were; why not tell him what they were if Slughorn's knowledge about them was so important?

"Infestation of Organism Slughorn possible. Could extract all knowledge, give to Swarm, Organism Harry."

"You know," Harry thought back, "that's not a bad idea, but there are a number of challenges. It would have to be subtle so that no one would notice the transformation, painless so that Slughorn himself won't notice anything wrong, and his appearance can't change at all. And you would have to be able to create something that could do this without ever examining his genetic code, because I have no way to get a sample."

"Many challenges. Difficult. Will experiment."

Harry didn't bother asking about Horcruxes that week. If Slughorn wouldn't answer Dumbledore, why would he answer Harry?

"Organism Harry makes frequent use of Artifact Marauders' Map."

"…Yes. That's a rather obvious thing to point out Darwin, what's it to you?"

"Valuable asset. Organism Harry lacks ability to track all names at all times. Can modify Overlord to do so. Leave map with Hive Cluster. No risk to artifact."

"Darwin, that's brilliant! I'll be right down with it."

Harry conjured a small table near the corner of the room, and one of the tiny Overlords floated down into the Evolution Pit to be modified by Darwin so that it could do nothing but read and track each name on the parchment at once. Before he did more than lay the map down however, he was hit by sudden distress from the Hive Mind.

"The acromantula colony is launching an attack on our forces. They are more intelligent than expected and have subdued the Optolisk."

"They killed it?"

"No, but it is currently unconscious and cannot use its killing gaze. The acromantulas are also more numerous than in the memory you have of them, and our forces struggle to repel them. All Zerg, excluding you, should assist in the defense."

The Queens were all entering the Nydus Network already, and Harry ran to assist them without thinking.

The Zerg were his Swarm. They were basically family… pretty much all he had left if he was honest with himself.

However, travel via Nydus Worm was disgusting. It managed to outrank bubotuber pus as the grossest thing he had ever felt, and that was no easy feat. However, the travel was rapid and Harry found himself almost immediately sprawled in a clearing in the Forbidden Forest, surrounded by chaos.

The giant spiders had the Swarm surrounded, a situation that the Hive Mind had little experience with, and their deadliest asset, the Optolisk, had apparently been trapped in a large amount of webbing; not designed to handle being upside down, it seemed that the blood rushing to its brain had knocked it out cold.

Harry had no idea how to fight like this, so he simply started casting every spell he knew.

" _Reducto_! _Relashio_! _Expulso_! _Bombarda_! _Incendio_! _Diffindo_!"

It seemed a magical storm was in the air with all of the Queens casting around him, and they were actually making headway by focusing their fire, but it seemed to be too little.

A very large spider, nearly as large as Aragog had been when Harry last saw him, broke through the line of Zerglings and charged right for him and nothing Harry cast seemed to phase it.

Desperate to both survive and make a difference, he remember the note in his old textbook. It had a spell with the label "For enemies."

" _Sectumsempra_!"

A deep gash appeared in the spider, spilling its blood everywhere and killing it almost instantly. Harry was at once pleased and horrified. Pleased that he had a spell to help, horrified at the mere possibility of using that spell on a person.

The Queens all began to use the spell and moments later more Hydralisks poured out of the Nydus Worm along with a few Roaches and many Zerglings. In the face of their losses and so many reinforcements arriving the spiders started backing away, leaving a clearing beneath the Optolisk. Harry used his wand to cut the webbing away and the deadly-eyed creature dropped to the ground.

Perhaps during the times Harry had his connection to the Hive Mind "turned off" the spiders had found out about the Optolisk's gaze, because when it landed the acromantulas surged forward in an attempt to keep the Zerg from recovering it, and even in the face of so much Roach acid, Hydralisk venom, and Zerg magic they managed to push the Swarm back… and then began to drop like flies.

The Optolisk had woken up, and it was not happy.

Harry turned away from the scene just in case a glimpse of its deadly eyes could be seen through the sea of arachnids. Watching his other Zerg, Harry saw that he had made a smart decision as a Hydralisk dropped for no visible reason. Moments later all was silent except for the soft flapping of the Drones' winglike membranes as they began collecting the dead and the footfalls of the Optolisk as it approached the rest of the Swarm.

"Master? All good now. Not-Zerg all dead."

Harry fell to the ground and shut his eyes, exhausted by casting so many spells in quick succession, and murmured, "Yes. You did well Optolisk."

Suddenly he heard the sound of hooves. A lone centaur investigating the commotion? Hadn't they been wiped out? Harry was too tired to care at this point. Then he heard a familiar voice.

"Harry? What–"

"NOT ZERG!"

Realizing what was happening but far too slow to stop it, Harry screamed, "NO!"

He looked towards where Luna was. She was astride a Thestral. Both girl and steed still had looks of confusion on their faces, having not even had enough time to understand what they were seeing. The Thestral slumped forward, and Harry ran to catch Luna as she began sliding off the dead animal.

Darwin had to have gotten something wrong when making the Optolisk. Luna couldn't be dead. Not Luna. Not another friend. Not after she had done so much for him last year.

"Oh, Luna, why were you out here? Luna, please be alive. Please get up. Say something about nargles or wrackspurts or crumple-horned snorkacks, anything!"

A hissing voice said, "Not-Zerg dead. All good now."

Whirling around in anger Harry bellowed, "NO, it is not 'all good!'" and began firing hexes, jinxes, spells, curses, everything he knew to try to express his hurt, his despair. His parents, Cedric, nearly Mr. Weasley, Sirius, nearly Hermione, and now Luna. Why did everyone close to him have to die?

"Don't understand," the Optolisk's tone was one of genuine confusion; it hadn't been hurt at all by Harry's barrage. "Not-Zerg bad. Killed many not-Zerg, and Master said did well. Good thing. Killed one more–"

" _Crucio_!"

The Optolisk let out a bestial roar of agony. Good.

"Don't you say it! Don't you dare say it! Luna was my friend! She didn't deserve to… to…"

He couldn't say it. Saying it would make it real the way that it had with Sirius. How would he explain this to his other friends? To the staff? To Luna's father? Harry went back to her corpse and held it, sobbing. One more person was dead because of him.

"Organism Luna Lovegood can live again."

"DON'T LIE TO ME DARWIN!" Harry roared. Sobs overcoming him again, he finished, "No magic can bring back the dead."

"Not magic. Zerg reconstitution. Organism Luna Lovegood's body, strands perfectly preserved. Bring to Evolution Pit. Make Zerg. Give life in Swarm."

Perhaps it was false hope. Perhaps it was the voice of madness. Regardless, in his grief Harry would take false hope and cling to it until the illusion crumbled, because the reality was too awful to bear.

"Do it. But Darwin, so help me if you do not bring her back exactly as she was I'll curse you until you truly can understand emotion! You make her just as well as you did me and better if you can."

One of the Queens, he didn't know nor care which, picked her up because Harry was shaking too much. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a Drone grabbing the Thestral carcass but he didn't care right now.

Luna was placed in the mutagen pit and Darwin went to work immediately, with Harry watching his every move. He couldn't help, he could barely understand what the Evolution Master was doing even with the help of the Hive Mind, but whether it succeeded or failed, he needed to see how it played out.

Hours passed and Harry knew that his other friends would be wondering where he was, but he didn't care. This was more important than schoolwork or Horcruxes, or any of the nonsense he had to deal with on a day to day basis.

Suddenly, after what seemed like eternity, Luna emerged from the mutagen pool looking a bit slimy but no worse for wear.

"Luna!" Harry shot forward and pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank goodness you're alive. I'm so, so sorry. Please forgive me. Please."

"Harry."

The voice was in his head, so Harry assumed that it was the Hive Mind and ignored it. He started trembling again as he sobbed at how close she'd been to being lost forever, to being another voice on the other side of the Veil, because of his stupidity.

"Harry!"

This time the voice was both in his head and by his ear, so Harry looked.

"Luna."

Emerald green eyes met silvery-grey ones.

"You're squeezing me too tight."

"Oh, er, sorry," Harry stepped back, feeling awkward now. How much did she remember?

"I remember everything up until I saw you on the ground and then I heard a hiss, looked up, and saw a pair of yellow eyes. Now, the Hive Mind is telling me that I died, but that I am Zerg now and that I could learn everything by sharing their collective memories. But I'd like to hear you explain things to me if you don't mind."

Harry cringed inwardly, and since Luna was partially in his head right now, she could sense that. This wasn't going to be fun for Harry at all.

"Er, well, around the beginning of term I snuck into the Forbidden Forest to clear my head…"

It took all night to bring Luna up to speed, and she chided him for not having more faith in his friends, but she agreed to help him keep the secret. And Harry wasn't sure if it was because she guilted him into it, but by the end of the explanation, Luna now co-ruled the Swarm with Harry, and proved herself to be the Luna Lovegood he remembered by immediately renaming the Zerglings as the Pincer-Tusked Snorkacks. Harry thought it was hysterical, but the Zerg simply accepted it without comment, except for some grumbling from Darwin about the longer name being less efficient when speaking.

Luna also reined Harry in when she explained why she'd been in the forest. Apparently some classmates had stolen more of her things and told her that they'd dumped them in the forest. She'd hopped onto the Thestral to make her search go a little bit easier, but then it had smelled all the blood from the acromantulas and Zerg in the air and been unable to resist investigating. Harry had wanted to forget secrecy and send a few "Zergli- er, Snorkacks" to visit them, but Luna talked him out of it, saying, "It wasn't their fault I died Harry. It isn't yours either, or even the Optolisk's." Instead Harry settled for ordering Dobby to find all of Luna's stolen things and bring them back.

They agreed to talk more and share more memories later, most likely in the evening and night, but as they prepared to leave the Chamber of Secrets on Harry's Firebolt, Luna stopped him.

"There is one thing you haven't put any thought into at all Harry."

"Er, what's that? I haven't been at my best tonight."

"Simple. Since we've both been missing all night, even if the professors didn't notice, other people probably did, so if you don't want them to ask inconvenient questions you have to give them an explanation that they'll believe." Clearly she had been placed in Ravenclaw for a reason.

"Okay, and what would that be?"

"That you abused your Parseltongue powers to snog your girlfriend in the Chamber of Secrets," and then Luna grabbed the back of his head and pulled him forward into a long kiss that also taught Harry that becoming part of his Swarm had taught her Parseltongue. "And now it's true too. So go off to Gryffindor Tower. I won't need you to escort me – I'll just use the link to the Overlord reading the Marauders' Map to avoid getting into trouble. Good night Harry. Or rather, good morning."

Harry wandered off beneath the invisibility cloak, feeling rather strange – a weird mix of bemused and giddy.

He was now the leader of a species of interstellar insects and had Luna Lovegood for a girlfriend.

His world had gotten much more complicated.

* * *


	7. Potter Brood, Part 3 - Finale

Harry did have to use the excuse Luna gave him to Ron and Hermione. Unfortunately, Lavender Brown overheard his explanation and took a break from snogging "Won-Won" to gossip about it, and soon it was all over the school that Harry Potter had opened the Chamber of Secrets just to snog Luna Lovegood.

Ron seemed confused, Ginny seemed saddened, and Hermione looked strangely introspective at his choice of girlfriend.

That day at lunch Luna sat with Harry at the Gryffindor table. It seemed that certain Ravenclaws did not know whether to scowl at Luna or cower in fear of Harry. Nobody knew the full truth of what happened in Harry's previous years at Hogwarts but Ron and Hermione (and Neville and Luna in the case of fifth year), but as Dumbledore had said of the incident at the end of first year, events that were absolute secrets soon came to be common knowledge.

Added to all of that was the fact all her stolen possessions had been mysteriously returned to her in one night, and Luna simultaneously had a target on her back, and was considered off limits by most people with brains and an ounce of sanity, because who else could have done that but Harry?

Witches and wizards really did lack basic logic.

Harry pointed this out to her later that evening, but she shrugged it off, saying that the target had been there since the Quibbler published his interview and since the battle in the Department of Mysteries.

Spending more time with his girlfriend (it still threw him for a loop to think of her in that way) Harry learned that behind the weirdness Luna was really quite intelligent, talented, and a joy to be around.

However, the Hive Mind had no concept of "a moment" and kept interrupting otherwise lovely moments with updates from the Swarm, which were no doubt very important, but were also serious mood-killers.

First, Darwin had found a way to infest Slughorn. All he needed was a bottle of the wine that the professor loved so much. Harry acquired some in Hogsmeade and the Evolution Master poured a slime that rapidly dissolved into it. He gave it to Slughorn who predictably drank it right away, and then gave Harry the requisite memories and started pouring the rest into the Swarm.

The battle where Luna had died – a thought that still sent tremors of horror through Harry when if came up – had yielded enough biomass for the Lair to become a Hive, and for the Swarm to begin morphing in the remaining structures it needed to reach its full potential.

The Hive, Evolution Pit, Nydus Network entrance, and Spawning Pool were all in the Chamber of Secrets, but between those three there was scarcely room to move around. In the forest, the Nydus Worm was flanked by the Roach Warren and Hydralisk Den, and the Zerg spawned a secondary Hatchery and built the remaining structures around it. A Spire rose, only to immediately evolve into a Greater Spire, and that was adjacent to a Baneling Nest. On the other side of the new Hatchery were the Infestation Pit and the Ultralisk Cavern.

Up to this point, the chamber's ceiling had been crowded with the small Overlords. Luna suggested that they all go outside through the Nydus Network, since the strain made for the chamber was small enough to do so. That mental "talk" revealed that the Hive Mind could have strategic blind spots, since in the history of the Zerg no Overlord had ever been small enough to enter the Nydus Network.

Luna also reflected on Harry's memories and she recalled that she knew a bust of Rowena Ravenclaw in Ravenclaw Tower, and Harry realized he'd seen that headdress before, in the Room of Requirement.

Harry no longer trusted the Headmaster and gave the diadem of Ravenclaw to Darwin for experimentation.

Darwin's progress regarding the Horcrux was slow, but in other areas he exceeded all expectations.

For one thing, Harry and Luna could now enter and exit the chamber at any time. The Evolution Master had created a modified Nydus Worm that acted as an elevator, and if circumstances were dire enough for Harry to call the Swarm into the school, the worm was capable of opening the chamber doors unassisted. For another, while Darwin had been unable to replicate the Thestral's "conditional invisibility" he had discovered an unexpected gene that allowed greater magical flow through the Wandlings, making the spells they were used to cast stronger.

And after sifting through Slughorn's memories, the Queens knew a truly devastating array of spells.

Harry took Luna to visit Hagrid for Aragog's funeral, and when his half-giant friend revealed that the remaining spiders would not welcome Hagrid anymore, Harry gave the order for the Swarm to wipe out the colony. The sheer scale of the battle echoing through the psionic link to their Zerg made it difficult for them to keep their composure, but that actually made it look to Hagrid like they were genuinely mourning the acromantula's passing.

By the end of the month, Harry and Luna had Zerg of all kinds strategically stationed all around Hogwarts. First, there was a rapid-response team of a hundred Pincer-Tusked Snorkacks (Luna's face lit up every time Harry said the name) that stayed in the Chamber of Secrets to be called into the castle itself at a moment's notice. A group of a dozen Roaches tunneled their way towards the school's main gates and waited to ambush intruders, and not too far away a few Hydralisks lurked just out of sight behind the tree line. Larger Zerg, from the overly wide Swarm Host to the colossal Ultralisk were held back at the clearing with the secondary Hatchery; they would have to knock down trees to get to the castle, and so would only be called in the most dire of emergencies. The same went double for the Optolisk, even though Luna had gotten Harry to forgive it.

In the event that the Death Eaters came by air, there was also a Zerg air force, consisting solely of Mutalisks and Vipers. Corrupters were too limited in Harry's view and their evolution, the Brood Lord, was far too slow. The Mutalisk's were the obvious choice being able to attack grounded and airborne foes, but Luna had been the one to suggest the Viper. She had reasoned that its ability to pull creatures closer could be used to snatch Death Eaters off of their brooms, or maybe even Voldemort out of the crowd if he came.

But in the event of an attack, the ace in the hole was the Infestor. They had a small number of Infestors scattered throughout the forest. Death Eaters tended to clump up when Voldemort made his speeches, so fungal growth would be a life-saver (or rather, a life-ender) in that situation. Luna also pointed out that if they got lucky and used a neural parasite on Voldemort himself, he could tell them all of his Horcruxes and their locations, then destroy his own physical body.

Finally, Dumbledore summoned Harry to another meeting. Harry's sixth sense for danger kicked in, largely because he'd seen Malfoy for the first time in weeks and the Slytherin looked oddly pleased about something. Harry gave his Felix Felicis to Luna and asked her to distribute it evenly to anyone in the DA who decided to help watch the Room of Requirement.

Then, to put it in a way as crude as it was accurate, everything went to shit.

First, Harry was just passing the Room when he saw it eject Professor Trelawney. Conversation with the teacher who always thought he was going to die was awkward, but then she revealed something shocking and infuriating.

Snape had been at the Hog's Head the night Trelawney applied for her job at Hogwarts. Snape, who'd been a Death Eater. Dumbledore had kept the despicable man who'd given Voldemort the prophecy as a teacher, as his teacher, and let him abuse Harry constantly.

Harry exchanged extremely heated words with the headmaster about the slimy bastard, but the old man wouldn't hear a word against his pet dungeon bat, constantly and infuriatingly telling him that Snape had expressed deepest remorse and was firmly on the side of good now, and refused to so much as hear another word on the subject.

The head bastard (for Harry now thought of Dumbledore as an enemy and a target for the Swarm along with Snape) revealed that he'd called him up to go to the location of another Horcrux, but only on the condition that Harry do exactly as he say.

Harry let himself hesitate. Could he really obey the orders of the man in front of him? The same man who kept the one who'd as good as signed his parents' death warrants around and permitted him to abuse Harry and taunt Sirius?

Yes. He could feign being the good little puppet for now, but whatever happened tonight, it would be the last time. The diary had been dropped in his lap. He needed to know what to expect from other Horcruxes. He agreed to Dumbledore's terms.

They side-along apparated to the Three Broomsticks (Harry under an invisibility cloak) to establish an alibi when Rosmerta saw them, then Dumbledore apparated again, taking Harry to a rock in front of a partially submerged cave.

Harry felt a brief surge of rage from the Hive Mind, and a brief moment of panic from Luna before both of them shut him out so the he could focus. Something was happening at Hogwarts, but Luna was the Swarm's co-ruler. Everything would be fine.

They swam into the flooded cave, where it eventually rose above the water in an air pocket, but seemed to lead to a dead end until the headmaster began murmuring in a language Harry had no knowledge of, and got the sense that this was subtler, but stronger magic than what he was used to. He made a mental note for the Swarm to infest the professor and drain him of knowledge before killing him.

Dumbledore sliced open his hand and opened the way with blood. Harry followed him down a dark passage ultimately leading to a lake and a boat. Setting foot inside it, the two made their way to an island in the center, and Harry looked over the side to see a large numbers of corpses. Inferi, he realized.

On the island was a goblet emanating green light, and Slytherin's locket was faintly visible beneath the potion. Beside the goblet was a small cup.

Dumbledore cast a number of spells and concluded that the only way to get rid of the potion was to drink it, and ordered Harry to force it on him even if he resisted. Harry put on a show of token resistance because it would be out of character for a puppet like the professor seemed to think he was to rebel against the puppet master.

Almost as soon as he began drinking, Dumbledore started hallucinating, calling out to phantoms and begging them to stop hurting someone, even screaming "KILL ME!" at one point. Part of Harry felt bad for him, but a dark, furious, vengeful side of him said that this was the professor's just reward for placing him with the Dursleys, for protecting Snape, for not telling him why Occlumency was important and indirectly making him cause Sirius' death, and for not preparing him to fulfill the prophecy.

Dumbledore started demanding water, and when no spell could fill the goblet, Harry realized Voldemort's trap: anyone who drank the potion would have to drink from the lake, and would be swarmed by Inferi. Of course, being leader of a Swarm himself, Harry would have just set the trap so that anyone who got to the island were attacked, but that was a strategic mind talking.

He pocketed the locket and filled the goblet with lake water, then gave it to Dumbledore, but couldn't get him to move back into the boat even when the Inferi started rising. Harry cast incendio repeatedly, but there were too many, and searching the Zerg's collection of Slughorn's memories, there were no useful fire spells.

Then Dumbledore seemed to regain his senses and created a swirling curtain of fire that forced the walking corpses back. He cast another spell that created a tunnel of fire around the boat to help them make their escape.

Harry apparated them both to Hogsmeade and made a show of being tired despite his Zerg enhancements meaning that he was fine.

Then he saw the Dark Mark over Hogwarts, and cold fear began surging through his body. Who had died?

The sight seemed to galvanize Dumbledore, who summoned two of the brooms from the logo of the Three Broomsticks so that they could fly into Hogwarts.

They passed over the forest, Harry ordering the airborne Zerg to hide in the canopy, and headed straight for the astronomy tower where the Dark Mark loomed overhead.

They landed and Dumbledore ordered Harry to hide beneath his cloak.

Dumbledore immobilized Harry, but at the same instant he was hit by a disarming charm.

Malfoy revealed that the project he'd been working on all year was restoring a vanishing cabinet to bring Death Eaters into the school so the he could kill Dumbledore… and the headmaster knew all along and was still trying to offer mercy.

More Death Eaters arrived, identifying themselves as the Carrows and Fenrir Greyback. Harry sent a silent call to his Mutalisks. This could not possibly end well, not with Dumbledore disarmed and himself petrified, the Swarm needed to help.

Snape arrived and pushed Draco aside, the look of utter loathing on his face cowing the other Death Eaters, and Dumbledore started pleading.

He aimed his wand at Dumbledore and began, " _Avada_ –"

Only to be pierced by a glaive worm. Harry had hoped to kill Snape slowly for giving Voldemort the prophecy, but he'd settle for the man's look of sudden horror and agony as his guts spilled out in front of him. The other Death Eaters finally looked away from Dumbledore to the sky and started firing curses at the Mutalisk. It dropped from the sky as a Killing Curse struck it, but more arrived, and soon all the Death Eaters, Malfoy included, were dead.

Dumbledore looked horrified, because of course even with Snape about to kill him and after Malfoy letting Death Eaters into the school, he was still concerned with their lives. But now he was disarmed, powerless, and Harry was still immobile. With nothing else to do, Harry reached into the psionic link and looked at what was happening with the Zerg.

Harry didn't know what had lead to the Queens entering the battle, (the Hive Mind wasn't answering his questions for some reason) but it seemed that they had and while many Snorkacks had died in their initial assault, the Queens were doing better, and the DA and the Order seemed to realize that the Swarm was on their side. Many of the Death Eaters were dead, and Bellatrix Lestrange had actually been captured, and now most of the Queens' efforts were concentrated on taking down some kind of barrier that blocked entry to the astronomy tower.

"Luna, are you there?" Harry called through the link.

"Harry, thank goodness you're okay! I lost focus for a split second and saw the Inferi coming for you and–"

"It's alright Luna, I'm safe. Are you? Dumbledore petrified me under the cloak and he's either passed out or dying right now, but Malfoy said one of us was dead. Who is it?"

"Bill's not dead, but Greyback mauled him. That Felix Felicis saved our lives at least a dozen times tonight Harry, there were so many dark curses everywhere."

"How did the Order react to the Snorkacks? What got the Queens involved? And why won't the Hive Mind answer me?"

"At first the Order and the Death Eaters both attacked the Zerg, but when one of our Snorkacks jumped between Ginny and a Killing Curse they figured out whose side they were on, but the Death Eaters kept firing off so many curses that they couldn't make much difference, and all we could really do was defend ourselves. The Queens came when I called them, but they're so slow off of Creep that many of them died, but the ones that survived really turned the tide."

"As for the Hive Mind, it won't answer me either. I felt that rage when you did, but it wouldn't respond, and all Darwin sent through the link was the word 'Horcrux.'"

"Organism Darwin unbound spirit fragment from diadem."

"Darwin?" the Zerg rulers asked in unison.

"No. Am new Evolution Master. Organism Darwin dead. Struck by Killing Curse."

Luna decided to name the new Evolution Master Newt after the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Commanded to elaborate, Newt continued, "Entity Voldemort's knowledge of dark magic, vast. Possessed Queen, killed many Pincer-Tusked Snorkacks, Organism Darwin. Three other Queens attempted to subdue. Resulted in stalemate. Hive Mind attempted to counter possess Queen through psionic link. Killed with Horcrux."

"What do you mean? The Hive Mind is the connection between the Zerg, it can't have been killed, I still feel it."

"Organism Harry misunderstands. Psionic link has no intelligence. Entity designated Hive Mind was intelligence of original Larva. Died with possessed Queen and spirit fragment."

Harry and Luna were shocked. Harry – and, as a result of his memories, Luna – had simply believed the Hive Mind to be a kind of personification of the link that all the Zerg shared and taken for granted the idea that it would be there forever. That it was gone now was… jarring.

"My Lord," a Queen called through the link, "we have removed the barrier and members of the Order of the Phoenix are ascending the stairs to retrieve you and the headmaster, but to gain their trust we had to inform them of how we knew what was occurring. They wish to interrogate you now."

"Let them. Luna, I'm afraid you'll have to be the one to tell the others. I have no doubt that the adults won't want the 'children' in the room. They'll probably take us down to the hospital wing, so get a Queen moving down that way. And give me an escort of Snorkacks. If the ministry tries to take me away for study, I need to send a message that I'm not going."

McGonagall and Tonks were the ones that came to the top of the tower. They tried to ignore the gruesome remains, but shortly after Tonks unbound Harry she had to vomit.

"Mr. Potter," the deputy headmistress began, "the creatures downstairs said that you can explain everything. You had better begin to do so."

Dumbledore still seemed weak, but at that statement he seemed to regain some focus. "You know what happened Harry? Do you have some connection with the creatures that killed these people?"

Harry heaved a sigh. Of course the headmaster would be so disappointed with him. "Yes. They're called Zerg, and they obey me, but I'd rather only explain things once, so can we get to the hospital wing?"

Dumbledore seemed to age and weaken before him, but with McGonagall's help he mustered the strength to walk.

At the base of the stairs, Harry saw Luna murmuring to Ron, Hermione, Neville, and even Ernie Macmillan, apparently the only other member of the DA who'd come when called based on the trickle of memories from Luna. Kingsley and Lupin were both watching the Queens warily as they stood over the captured Bellatrix.

A Snorkack ran up to group making its way to the hospital wing, and McGonagall aimed her wand at it.

"No, it's okay, I called it here. I feel safer when they're around."

Harry noticed a tightening of the professors' features when he said that, but they let the Snorkack accompany them to the hospital wing.

"Potter?" Madam Pomfrey called, "I've been speaking to this creature about how to properly treat your injuries. What's this nonsense about you not being completely human?"

There were sudden gasps and glances at Harry, and he ignored them as he got on the bed beside the Queen that had made it down there.

"The Inferi scratched me up Elladora, but I'll be fine. Madam Pomfrey, you need to look at Professor Dumbledore, he drank a potion–"

"The worst symptoms appear to have passed. At any rate I will live for the moment, and would like to hear your explanation Harry." The old man sounded tired, but there were the slightest hints of disappointment and steel in his voice. This wasn't his usual grandfatherly end-of-year explanation of things, and he expected his… protege? Puppet? Whichever he was, he wanted Harry to start explaining.

"She," Harry gestured to the Queen, "is correct. I'm not completely human anymore, and I guess I should explain from the beginning. Not long after my first private meeting with the headmaster, I snuck out of the castle to clear my head…"

Through his link to the nearby Queen, Harry watched the headmaster's face closely during his explanation. There was shock that Harry had agreed to become something other than human. Disbelief that the Zerg were extraterrestrial. Disappointment that Harry truly did not believe in the power of love to stop Voldemort. A hint of surprise at the revelation that Harry was putting the Chamber of Secrets to use. Something… not quite horror but close to it when Harry said that he had an army hidden in the Forbidden Forest in case of an emergency. Something like gratitude when Harry revealed that the Snorkacks they had seen in the halls were there to protect the school in an event such as what happened. Then despair when Harry revealed that it was on his orders that the Mutalisks had killed Snape, Malfoy, and the Death Eaters on the tower.

"There was no need for that Harry."

Harry's temper got the better of him again.

"How can you say that?! I know you trusted him, but he was about to kill you – there are no other curses that begin with Avada, how much more proof do you need that he was a Death Eater through and through?! You say he said he was sorry that Trelawney's prophecy led to Voldemort murdering my parents, but everyone knows how much he hates my dad, so much that he still took it out on me daily, and even the Malfoys said that they were being used in the first war, but you didn't just take them at their word did you? What could have possibly convinced you that he regretted what happened at all?"

Dumbledore looked his full age, and was deeply perturbed by Harry's outburst, though Harry could not tell whether it was because he still hadn't trusted Snape or because Harry had blurted out the existence of a prophecy.

There were murmurs of disbelief and outrage in the room.

"Albus, there's a prophecy?"

"Did he say _Sibyll's_ prophecy?"

" _Snape_ sent Voldemort after James and Lily?!"

The last was from Remus, but Dumbledore ignored them all, saying, "He told me that he loved your mother."

"What?" Harry said flatly.

"He swore me to absolute secrecy, but with his death the plans he and I created no longer matter. He came to me after Voldemort concluded that it was your family the prophecy referred to, begging me to save Lily whatever it took, even if it did mean saving your father as well."

Harry was so stunned by that revelation, that his mind had time to dredge up something that had always struck him as odd.

"He asked Voldemort to spare my mother so that he could have her, didn't he?" Harry snarled, "That's the reason Voldemort kept offering to spare her, isn't it?"

"Yes, but–"

"That isn't love, Dumbledore! My father loved my mother and me so much that he charged Voldemort to buy us time. My mother loved me so much that even scared out of her mind, she wouldn't let Voldemort kill me to save herself. Snape wanted my dad and me out of the picture just so that he could take my mother for himself!"

"He still loved her even after all these years–"

"AND YOU ONLY KNOW THAT BECAUSE HE SAID SO! PEOPLE LIE TO GET OUT OF TROUBLE! YOU RUN A SCHOOL, YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT!"

Lupin walked across the room to stand by Harry's side. He looked furious, but he was keeping his voice under control. "I agree with Harry on this Professor. Real love is selfless. Snivellus didn't care about anyone or anything as long as he could have Lily for himself, and I think James could see that. Looking back, it seems so obvious that James picked up on that even from the first moment. Snape was obsessed, not in love."

"Harry, you've killed people now."

Harry's cold response was, "I killed Quirrell too, and I got house points for that, or am I somehow supposed to let every Death Eater live except Voldemort and the ones directly possessed by him?"

The Queen beside him chose to speak, "The Swarm can see Harry's memories through his link to us Dumbledore. He has suffered because of your many secrets, but he continued to admire you until the moment you defended the one called Snape this evening. We do not wish to be your enemies in this war, but we will not allow Harry to continue to come to harm, and in war the enemy must die."

Harry felt the last of his scratches close and got up to leave. The Order members seemed too shocked by everything that had been revealed to stop him.

"Harry," the old man called out.

Harry did not look back. He needed to get to the Chamber of Secrets. Dobby could get him food and his things. No doubt Dumbledore was going to try to convince him to go back to the Dursleys for another year. As if. He doubted that his blood was close enough to what it had been before he became a Zerg for it to charge the wards on that house anyway, and even if it was, the Swarm was his only family now.

Harry almost laughed on his way to Myrtle's loo. Dumbledore was apparently ordering the Order members around again, but some were still skeptical about his judgement after Harry's revelations about Snape and who had created the prophecy. Those that wanted to obey couldn't get past the Queen's abdomen as she slowly left the room.

"My Lord, I am Elfrida, a Queen who spawned during the battle. I have taken the liberty of taking Bellatrix Lestrange into the forest. She is currently under the influence of a neural parasite and the Swarm is pulling everything from her mind."

Harry almost missed a step. He would never have even thought to do that. "Excellent work Elfrida."

"What should be done with her when her mind is free of secrets? While the most strategic options are to kill or to infest, she has caused you and your friend Neville much harm. Do you wish for me to kill her?"

"Kill her. Dumbledore will probably complain, but the ministry would just send her to Azkaban where she would escape the moment Voldemort goes to get the Death Eaters already there now."

"Your wish is my command."

Harry reached Myrtle's bathroom, but there was a crowd there.

"Luna, why is most of the DA out here?"

Luna looked at him sheepishly, which was such an adorable expression that Harry forgot to be annoyed, and now he was only curious.

"Well, I figured that since Ernie joined the fighting he deserved an explanation, but apparently he stampede of Pincer-Tusked Snorkacks woke up Cho, who looked outside and saw them and sent a message about monsters in the halls. Ernie used his coin to send back a message that I was explaining what they were and that they were on our side, and most of the DA saw it and came to investigate. When they found me, I was already on my way to the chamber, but it's your Swarm so I figured you should be the one to decide who gets to see where it all started."

Harry nodded and approached the sink. He looked back at the DA and saw that the only people missing were Zacharias Smith and Marietta Edgecombe. Good. They were the only two in the DA he really hadn't liked.

"Normally I wouldn't do this, but I'm tired and have already lost too much because of people keeping me in the dark. I'll let you in and tell you everything, but I warn you: travel by Nydus Worm is _disgusting_."

With that proclamation he found the pipe with the serpent engraving and hissed, "Open," revealing the perpetually cavernous maw of the Nydus Worm. There were some gasps and screams.

"This is your last chance to back out if this is too gross, because once you're in, you'll need to make a second trip to get out." With that said, Harry went in, Luna beside him.

To Harry's great surprise, no one stayed at the surface. So he lead everyone to the main chamber.

Cho shrieked as she set foot on the Creep.

"Don't worry about the slime, it can't hurt you. It's there to feed the Zerg and actually help them move a little faster."

"How does that work?" That sounded like Seamus Finnegan.

"Apparently it gives any Zerg that walk on it a little push when they take a step. If you're not ready for it it can actually throw you off balance."

"So you're a Zerg Harry?" That sounded like Susan Bones.

"Well… yes. But I'm still me. I asked them not to change my personality or body when they offered to make me one of them."

"This sounds like science fiction," Hermione blurted, "How did this happen?"

"I'll tell you all in a second, for now, this is the Chamber of Secrets, and also the location of the Zerg's main Hive Cluster. Believe it or not it was actually slimier before the Zerg came, which reminds me: Dobby!"

Arriving with a pop, the elf said, "Yes Harry Potter Sir?"

"If it's not too much trouble, please bring some chairs for everyone. They might be here for awhile…"

As everyone sat down, Harry started revealing everything from his encounter in the forest to the current moment, holding back only the existence of the Optolisk and Luna's death. Those were not things that they needed to know.

There was a lot of skepticism that the Zerg were from space, but Harry simply shrugged and replied, "They weren't magical until they took what the Evolution Master calls essence from Dobby and me."

"What's the Evolution Master?" Ron asked.

"Am Organism Newt, current Evolution Master."

People screamed at Newt's sudden appearance from the Evolution Pit.

"Newt," Luna chided, "you were supposed to stay in your pit while we have guests. Also, didn't you say that you needed to examine Darwin's memories somehow?"

"Analysis complete. Breakthrough. Urgent message for Organism Harry regarding Horcruxes."

Harry had already explained the existence of Horcruxes to the shock and horror of everyone present. There were no nascent Dark Lords here.

"What is this breakthrough? I trust everyone here, so you can say it."

"Organism Darwin made small mistake, unbound soul fragment. Allowed it to possess Queen. Can modify process, remove soul fragment while bound, prevent possession."

"That's a relief, I managed to give the school Gryffindor's sword, and Darwin purified Ravenclaw's diadem, and we know Voldemort has Hufflepuff's cup somewhere. If we clean that and this locket, that will be an artifact from all four Founders."

Harry produced the locket… but it fell open and a note fell out. Harry picked it up without thinking of the danger and read the message.

"It's a fake!"

"Must examine for certainty, safety of Swarm, allies."

Harry gave it to Newt and read the message aloud to the DA.

"To the Dark Lord,"

"I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more."

R.A.B"

Newt handed back the locket, saying, "Locket safe. Not Horcrux. No psionic presence."

"Harry can I see that?" Hermione asked. Harry gave it to her without hesitation.

"Harry… wasn't there a locket like this at Sirius' house?"

Harry paused, but a Queen scanned through Harry's memories before he could, mentally saying, "Hermione is correct. You all tried to open it. The house elf Kreacher was trying to protect it from Mundungus Fletcher."

Harry shuddered.

"You're right Hermione. We all had a Horcrux in our hands, but how did it… wait, I know who to ask: Kreacher!"

With a pop the filthy house elf of the Black family appeared in the chamber. "Filthy half-blood master summoned Kreacher? What would Mistress say if she knew?"

"Kreacher, you got Sirius killed, so you will shut up and speak when I tell you to, and at no other time. Now, at the Black house there is a locket that looks just like this one. Get it and bring it here, no stopping, no detouring, no informing anyone else. As a matter of fact, Dobby!"

The excitable, far friendlier house elf appeared again.

"Dobby, I just gave Kreacher an order, and I need you to make sure he obeys, got it?"

Dobby gave him a salute and soon both elves were gone. They reappeared moments later, and Kreacher had the locket.

Throughout this, the rest of the DA watched, strangely enthralled now that they were part of Harry's adventure.

"Newt, examine this, tell me if its a Horcrux or not."

"Psionic, magical presence detected. Horcrux."

"I know you said you can remove the soul fragment without risk of possession, but spawn in a few Queens with Wandlings and Hydralisks just in case alright?"

The Hive was quick to obey, and the Larvae formed rapidly growing egg sacs, to the fascination of the DA members.

Very soon, all were gathered around Slytherin's locket, the real one, and watching as the three Queen's levitated it between them. It was utterly bizarre to hear Zerg chant, mostly because they used gurgles, screeches, and snarls in place of real speech. Through the psionic link Harry and Luna realized, and explained to the others, that rituals had to be performed in the users' native language, and for Zerg that was a series of deeply ingrained primal grunts and growls.

Soon, the locket began to vibrate, and then it opened, releasing black smoke that collected into the rough shape of Lord Voldemort.

Harry felt great pride in the DA. Some of them looked petrified, but all of them were holding their ground and aiming their wands at the specter.

The queens then each fired a different spell at the entity. One used the flame spell that changed into various animals in midair, the next used a bright white spell Harry recognized as something Slughorn had learned about but never used, and the last fired the Killing Curse. With a wail, the soul fragment dissipated and vanished, the locket falling to the floor.

"Great, that just leaves the cup somewhere, and then Voldemort's snake Nagini. No matter where the cup is the snake is going to be worse since Voldemort keeps it with him all the time."

"The cup is in Gringotts," announced Elfrida through the link, "Bellatrix Lestrange has a memory of receiving a cup identical to the one Dumbledore showed you, and of Voldemort describing it as precious to him before ordering her to place it in her vault."

"That's a problem," Harry said both through the link and out loud.

"What's a problem?" Neville asked.

"One of the Queens just finished interrogating Lestrange and the cup Horcrux is in her vault at Gringotts. The goblins are neutral in wizarding affairs so we can't just waltz in and take it, even if we explain what it is."

"Harry," Babayaga began, having apparently survived the battle and returned to the Chamber of Secrets, bringing yet more startled reactions from the DA, "Perhaps we can simply enter and take it."

"Do you mean break into Gringotts? Because I'd rather not do that if possible. I don't want to start another goblin rebellion."

"No, although the Swarm is numberless and could easily conquer it, I speak of stealth and subterfuge. Infest Lestrange as you did Slughorn and send her into her vault to retrieve the cup and return it here."

"Urgh, sometimes I hate the decisions I have to make. Neville," he looked at his friend, and now so did the rest of the DA, "I was just going to have Lestrange killed, consequences be damned, but infesting her would make things much easier. Are you okay with that?"

Neville seemed to gather himself for a moment before asking, "Is infestation painful?"

Seeing where he was going, Harry replied, "It doesn't have to be, but I can order Newt to make it excruciating just for her."

"Then do it. Make her suffer and betray V-Voldemort."

Babayaga approached Harry's fellow Gryffindor and did her best to comfort him, but the result was Neville being confused at best. She addressed Harry as she held Neville, saying, "There is a problem. To maximize her pain she must be conscious and she must be here. Is this acceptable?"

Neville took a deep breath and nodded, so Harry agreed as well. Elfrida appeared with Bellatrix in tow.

Bellatrix began screaming abuse at everyone and everything, until Babayaga cast a silencing charm on her. Then Newt stabbed her with his spear limbs.

"Newt! You're supposed to infest her, not kill her!"

"Zerg virus in spines, excruciating mutagen. Fast acting." And true to his words, Bellatrix fell to the ground, and started twitching.

"Harry… are you sure joining the, er, Swarm didn't change you?"

Harry sighed, understanding where they were coming from. Just last year he'd boasted about using the disarming charm on Voldemort himself, and now he was casually talking about torturing Bellatrix Lestrange.

"I'm sure. I've been so angry lately, even before joining the Zerg, because I've been feeling like a puppet noticing his strings. The only thing the Zerg have changed about me, is that I now understand that war isn't pretty, and stunners aren't enough to stop the bad guys." He looked at the writhing Bellatrix. "As much as I want to avenge Sirius, I know that this isn't right, but I accept that it's necessary."

Lestrange suddenly stood up. Despite knowing what had happened, it was so frightening that one of the DA fired a stunner at her. She casually deflected it but did not retaliate. "What is the Swarm's bidding my Lord?"

Harry wanted to command her to find a way to kill herself horribly, but he controlled his temper and commanded, "Go to your vault in Gringotts and retrieve Voldemort's Horcrux, then bring it back here immediately." He turned to Elfrida, "Disillusion yourself and wait for her at the gate. She can't apparate in Hogwarts, so you'll need to bring her back here."

With a wave of her Wandling, Elfrida disappeared, then grabbed Bellatrix by the arm and they both vanished.

"What happens now?" asked Dean Thomas.

"Now we wait. That's really what most of my adventures have been: figuring something out, getting stumped, and waiting for the next thing to happen."

Half an hour later, Bellatrix reappeared, triumphantly presenting the cup. Harry handed it to Newt to begin the purification process.

"Okay, the last Horcrux is the snake, and then all that remains is Voldemort himself. So, anyone got any ideas about how to handle that?"

Luna raised her hand, jumping up and down.

"Yes, Luna?"

"You said that Slughorn agreed to be a professor to stay safe from Voldemort, but what if he changed his mind?" Harry looked lost, so Luna elaborated further. "Send him with Bellatrix to Voldemort's hideout, and have them say that Slughorn changed his mind after the attack on Hogwarts and helped Lestrange escape, and that he wants to join Voldemort. Then, when they get close enough, one of them can attack Voldemort to distract him while the other kills Nagini."

"Luna… that's brilliant!" Harry pulled her into an enthusiastic kiss that clearly made Ginny jealous, but Harry was past caring. He reached out to Slughorn through the psionic link and ordered him to come to the Chamber of Secrets.

"Harry, my Lord, what do you command?" Slughorn asked in his usual jolly tone.

"Slughorn, you can get everything you need to know from the Zerg's collective memory. Elfrida, take him and Bellatrix just beyond Hogwarts' gates. They won't be coming back, so you can return here immediately to help cleanse Hufflepuff's cup. Luna, make sure nobody bothers me, because I'm going to be monitoring them closely through their connection to me."

* * *

Far away from Hogwarts at Malfoy Manor, Bellatrix Lestrange arrived just beyond the gates, Horace Slughorn clutching her arm. A guard stood at the manor's main entrance, a new recruit according to Lestrange's memories, and he immediately let them pass, not daring to question Bellatrix's presence.

Narcissa Malfoy appeared soon after they entered, "Bella? What happened? You left hours ago. Where is Draco?"

Harry had no time to bother allowing Bellatrix to act sisterly, so he made her snap, "Out of my way Cissy! I must speak with the Dark Lord. Your worthless spawn failed in his mission so badly that he and the others are dead."

Narcissa collapsed at the news. Perhaps in another time, Harry might have felt bad for her, but now, so close to being free of that wretched prophecy, Harry felt only anticipation.

Bellatrix approached the "throne room" where Voldemort spent most of his time, Slughorn feigned cowardice at Harry's command and so Bellatrix ordered him to wait outside to further complete the act.

The doors were opened and there sat Voldemort, idly stroking Nagini.

"Tell me, Bella, what happened at Hogwarts that kept you out so late, and why Horace Slughorn accompanies you despite having joined the school's staff to avoid our attentions." It was not a question, and Voldemort's cold voice held the first signs of anger.

"Draco's mission was a catastrophic failure. He and the others are dead and I was captured."

" _Crucio_!"

Bellatrix collapsed, screaming, and even separated by the bond as he was Harry flinched.

"So, Dumbledore still lives. You only live, Bella, because you have not yet explained Horace's presence here."

Harry made his flesh and blood puppet smile in triumph and reply, "The attack on Hogwarts has shown the professor that there is truly nowhere beyond your reach my Lord. He has confessed to me that he feels he made a mistake in trusting Dumbledore, and chose to begin making amends to you by freeing me. He also claims to have important news regarding Harry Potter."

"Indeed. Then come in Horace. If your change of heart is true, you have no more need to fear. You are among friends."

Slughorn waddled into the throne room, and, after a moment of thought from Harry, decided to bow.

"A thousand apologies for my previous errors in judgement my Lord. Dumbledore convinced me that you wanted me dead, and that Hogwarts would be safe from your wrath."

"Indeed Horace. Then tell me of how catastrophically Draco's efforts to kill the headmaster failed. I wish for an unbiased account."

Harry psionically whispered that he was to tell a little bit about the Swarm.

"Dumbledore and his Order still refused to kill throughout the battle… it was Potter who killed them, or rather, his creatures."

Voldemort leaned forward, intrigued, and a murmur broke out among the Death Eaters in the room until he raised a hand for silence.

"I take it that this is the news about Potter? What creatures could he possibly possess that are capable of killing my forces?"

Slughorn smiled under Harry's command and continued, "I have never seen their like in my life. They are like colossal hybrids of reptile and insect. When Severus was about to kill Dumbledore, Potter's monsters tore him, Draco, and the others apart. Bellatrix was the only one they were not strong enough to kill. Dumbledore was most displeased by Potter's decision to kill, but murmured something about fulfilling a prophecy."

Voldemort was fully engrossed now, so Harry gave the command to attack. Slughorn fired a curse at Voldemort, but it was easily deflected, however its true purpose was to catch his attention so that Bellatrix could fire the Killing Curse at Nagini. With a familiar wail of despair the Horcrux died, and Voldemort screamed in rage, such rage that Harry's scar throbbed and he almost lost focus.

Voldemort killed Bellatrix instantly and pinned Slughorn against the wall.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?"

The game was up, but it did what it had to, so it was time to lay the trap. In Harry's voice, Slughorn said, "Hello Tom."

"Potter! What have you done?"

"I've just destroyed the last of your Horcruxes with one of my monsters. Oh, don't look so surprised, Slughorn is far too cowardly to ever approach you without being under direct control."

"You know nothing Potter, I am immortal, but you will suffer for Nagini's death!"

"I know the prophecy: ' _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies._ ' You see Tom, I finally know what the power is, and it's my Zerg, and thanks to the Zerg you are mortal now, no matter your delusions."

Voldemort still seemed to be mulling over the prophecy, so Harry decided to goad him into coming to the castle.

"In case you're still puzzled, the prophecy basically says that only I can kill you, and only you can kill me. You could have had true immortality just by making a mutually binding truce with me, but you've taken too much from me for me to ever accept that now. You will never be safe unless you kill me personally. If you're not afraid, then come to Hogwarts. I will be waiting for you."

Voldemort let out a scream of pure anger and killed Slughorn, severing Harry's link to the man, but Tom's occlumency slipped and Harry felt his rage through their link. The time had come to attack Hogwarts, to claim his rightful place as the heir of its greatest founder, and kill Harry Potter. Whatever these Zerg were, they would die as well.

* * *

An hour later Voldemort had his army in front of Hogwarts, a sea of Death Eaters with a giant supporting them. Harry deliberately hadn't told the staff what was happening so that the wards could not be strengthened, and they tore easily.

Harry waited until the army was all the way through the gates and then the Roaches appeared behind them. Several Death Eateres died to their acid before the others could respond, and then the rest of the Swarm began to close it.

Ultralisks burst out of the forest, leaving a trail of fallen trees behind them and Nydus Worms erupted on either side of the Death Eaters, spilling out Snorkacks, Hydralisks, and even the Optolisk. Not even the air was safe as Mutalisks and Vipers flew over the army.

Behind everything else, the Infestors arrived and pinned down the enemy with their fungal growth, and the Vipers laid down their blinding cloud to prevent any retaliation from the Death Eaters.

The giant went down to an Ultralisk, and it looked like Voldemort's entire army would be obliterated with ease, but then he gained enough focus to go on the attack again.

He made the blinding cloud vanish and cast Fiendfyre multiple times in succession. Apart from the Ultralisks' hide, capable of withstanding multiple nuclear strikes, the Swarm could not take the heat.

But as the flames seemed about to take it, the Optolisk opened its eye, and as Voldemort saw it he died, his spirit leaving his body once again.

Queens emerged from the Nydus Worms and cast the spells necessary to smother the cursed fire, and then all was well. The war was over.

At least, the war was over for Harry. Dumbledore kept trying to meet with Harry until he died a month later, insisting that Voldemort could still return. Even when he died, he left Harry a collection of memories he claimed would show exactly what Harry had to do to stop Voldemort from returning.

But Harry was tired of the headmaster's secrets, and he had the Swarm destroy the memories.

Harry did not become the Swarm leader that the Hive Mind would have wanted him to, because he refused to expand the Swarm anymore. There was no point. The war was over. No matter the Queens' or Newt's protests, Harry would give them nothing to do.

Harry and Luna traveled the world, having fun and looking for Luna's creatures for nineteen years, until they died in a freak accident involving an escaped dragon and a chocolate frog factory. Witnesses thought that they heard a distinctive wail come from the rubble, but there were no survivors.

The Zerg then had a civil war, one side lead by Dobby, who wanted to keep the Swarm as it was in memory of the Great Harry Potter, and on the other the most ruthless of the surviving Queens, Morgana, who wanted to begin taking over the planet.

Dobby put up a far greater fight than anyone, magical or muggle, ever expected, but the deciding factor was when Newt joined Morgana and found a way to incorporate the Dementors' powers into her Swarm. Morgana's Dementorlings brought back the worst of Dobby's memories from his time with the Malfoys and rendered him nearly catatonic long enough for Morgana to kill him.

Morgana had herself mutated from a Queen into a smarter, stronger Broodmother and lead the Zerg in the conquest of magical and muggle Earth. Nuclear weapons and Fidelius Charms kept her forces at bay for a while, but it was all over once the Zerg assimilated the humblest of all magical creatures: the chizpurfle.

A parasite that ate magical objects and residue, the chizpurfle's DNA taught the Swarm how to devour magic itself, and just by being in close proximity to a Fidelius-hidden location the Zerg's Creep could eat away the magic that kept it hidden, and since the Zerg put their Creep _everywhere_ , there was soon nowhere to hide.

Eventually, the Zerg absorbed every magical creature in the world, and by that point, even when the entire world's nuclear arsenal fired at them, they survived because they had created magically expanded bunkers all over the world, and simply took over the irradiated remnants of the planet when the fallout cleared.

Morgana left the planet surrounded by hordes of magical Zerg inside a small (on the outside) Leviathan, expanded on the inside through magic and warded to be practically indestructible.

The Swarm was stronger than ever, all thanks to Harry Potter's kindness to a Larva, and Dumbledore's obsessive hoarding of secrets. Under Morgana's rule, the Zerg would never be such a slave to random chance again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized that I accidentally created a Zerg Tardis. Anyway, that's the last Harry Potter chapter, and at around 8500 words its the longest single chapter I've ever written. I hope it was enjoyable. The mini-epilogue was because I couldn't think of an reason for Harry to want to expand the Swarm after killing Voldemort, but at the same time couldn't think of anything that would be able to kill off the Zerg in the Harry Potter world.


	8. Arc Brood, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same drill as the Harry Potter arc. This grew beyond what I was comfortable placing in a single chapter, and so it comes in 3 parts.

It was the night before the remnants of team JNPR set off with Ruby Rose to begin the hunt for Pyrrha's killer. Jaune Arc was on walking near the outskirts of the safe part of the city of Vale, trying to clear his head enough to sleep.

"Pyrrha… how could I have known?"

That first and last kiss haunted his dreams and nightmares alike.

Dreams of what could have been.

Nightmares about what had truly happened.

Ruby hadn't wanted to tell them, but Ren, Nora, and Jaune had needed to know what happened at the top of that tower.

Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl, had fought with all of her strength, used every ounce of skill, and expended all of her aura, only to be shot through the heart with an arrow and then burned to nothing but ash and cinders.

Cinder Fall.

Jaune's blood boiled at the mere thought of her. How many times had they passed one another in the halls while she played her role as a transfer student? How long had she been plotting all the chaos and murder that took place that night?

Grimm were born as monsters. Cinder Fall had no excuse.

At the same time that he raged, the thought also made him despair. He was leagues above what he'd been when he snuck his way into Beacon thanks to Pyrrha's training, but Pyrrha had been as high above him in skill as the stars above were right now. What hope did he have, even with help, of defeating Cinder Fall? According to what Ruby had said, the old fairy tale about the Maidens was true, and Cinder was so powerful because she had become one of them. How could he counter such power? How could anyone?

Perhaps grief was affecting his mind, or perhaps all the talk of fairy tales brought it up, but Jaune looked up at the stars and wished for something, anything, that could give him the strength to avenge Pyrrha.

And unless his mind was playing tricks on him, it looked like one star was answering.

Hurtling through the atmosphere, the burning Zerg sac heard the plea for vengeance, sensed something akin to a large psionic presence, and veered towards it. It would land in the forest near the settlement.

Jaune might have been hallucinating from lack of sleep, but he could have sworn he heard a voice in his head as the shooting star passed overhead, imperiously saying, "Come."

The Maidens were real. Was wishing on a star real too?

What Ruby had told him Pyrrha's last words were echoed through his mind: "Do you believe in destiny?"

"I do," he muttered, and marched out into the forest.

There was one – and only one – good thing that had come of the events that night: so many Grimm were drawn to the frozen dragon at the tower that much of the forest was empty. Jaune only had to kill a few stray Beowolves on his way towards where the shooting star seemed to have landed.

When he arrived at the crater, he didn't know what to expect, but it was definitely not what he was currently looking at.

Some vast, brown structure covered in black spikes and purple pustules was sitting in the center of a field of gray ooze. It clearly wasn't Grimm; it lacked the telltale markings, but it also clearly wasn't anything else either.

"Be not afraid Jaune Arc," said a voice in his mind. "I have heard your plea and I have come."

Jaune drew his sword and prepared his shield.

"Who said that? Show yourself."

"Down here."

Jaune looked down and crawling out of the crater near his feet was a kind of worm-like creature covered in armor plating. It seemed to rear up and peer at him glowing green pinpricks that he could only assume were its eyes. What looked like three tongues tasted the air from their position between a pair of pincers.

The would-be Huntsman stumbled back. Though small, the thing was ugly, and its… mouth? Jaws? Mandibles? Whatever they were they looked dangerous.

"You need not fear me Jaune Arc. I have come to help you."

"Uh, what?"

If it had hands and anything resembling a human face, the Larva would have face-palmed.

"You wished upon a star for the strength to avenge Pyrrha Nikos," it said in the seventeen year old's mind. "I can give you the power to defeat Cinder Fall, if you will trust me."

Jaune was sorely tempted by that promise alone, but the creature's evil appearance put him off. He replied, "I've read enough stories to know that help like that isn't free. What do you want from me?"

Images flashed in the boy's mind, flickers of war and creatures with armor similar to the Larva's battling, and a voice whispered of worlds beyond the stars. Jaune dropped to his knees.

"I need a host Jaune Arc. My queen goes to war against a god, and I have been sent away to ensure that our species will endure. Do not fight the visions," it urged. "Your Aura resists my telepathy when you do."

Jaune did his best to relax his mind, and the visions became smoother, and the whispered words got louder. They spoke of a vast conspiracy to free a species, the Zerg they called themselves, from the chains enslaving them to a cruel creator, Amon, a being as old as the universe and just as strong. Perhaps Jaune was more perceptive than the Larva gave him credit, or perhaps the boy's Aura interfered with the Larva's telepathy, but he saw something else too.

"What is infestation? What happened to the woman I saw?"

"To be infested is to become greater than what you are. To become Zerg. Sarah Kerrigan became the Queen of Blades, the ruler of the Swarm."

Jaune stood up, shaking his head to clear away the visions. "I'm sorry, but I like being human. You'll have to find another person to infest."

The Larva realized that it needed to go for the kill. The boy was tempted, despite his almost casual refusal. He just needed a little nudge…

"You cannot hope to defeat Cinder Fall on your own Jaune Arc. Without me, you will remain what you are: a boy who cheated his way into Beacon Academy to play at being a Huntsman."

Jaune stopped, almost trembling with anger.

"Your team is not enough, not even with the strange power of Ruby Rose. Without becoming Zerg, yet more of your friends will die. I have journeyed across countless light years to stand before you, just as you wished for the power to avenge the woman who loved you. So I ask you Jaune Arc: do you believe in destiny?"

Sword and shield clattered to the ground, and the Larva knew that it had won. The words of Pyrrha Nikos would forever rule this boy; now to take what was offered for the good of the Swarm.

"What do I have to do?"

"I must become one with your body to change you into Zerg, but your Aura will resist me. I need you to trust me enough for it to lower, so that I may open a small wound."

Jaune hesitated, then asked, "Where?"

"Your stomach would be the ideal location."

The boy pulled up the black shirt he wore to expose his stomach and the Larva crawled up his leg to get to work. Jaune shuddered at the feel of it moving on him, and flinched when it began cutting into his flesh, but he did not move.

Not even when he felt it enter his body.

"You may reactivate your Aura. The process will take all night, so I suggest you return to your team. These 'Grimm' as you call them will attack us if we remain here."

"What happens tomorrow morning?"

"I do not know how long it has been since my queen sent me on my mission. Perhaps the Zerg were victorious. Perhaps they are extinct. If you cannot sense the greater Hive Mind by dawn, it means that you are the new leader of the Swarm."

"And what if I can sense the… did you say _greater_ Hive Mind?"

"There is already a Hive Mind on this planet – myself and the Hatchery. If you can sense the greater Hive Mind, the collective will of all Zerg, then you will be cared for by powerful allies. The Swarm protects its own."

"But what if I am the leader of the Zerg? I promised to help Ruby and the others…"

"You will have to find a way to stay behind. The Hatchery must be protected to spawn the army you will need to take your revenge."

"Army?!"

The Larva resisted the urge to sigh. It suspected that the urge was an accidental side effect of its greater intelligence. For now, the boy needed to be silenced so that it could begin its work… and then die, so that when Jaune joined the Hive Mind, he would never know the extent to which he was manipulated.

"Worry not for the remainder of the night Jaune Arc. One way or another, all will be clear at dawn."

As Jaune went to bed, telling Ren and Nora that he was just grieving and thinking, the Larva metamorphosed into a new organ. Secreting mutagens and anesthetics, it rapidly attached itself to the young Huntsman's circulatory system. Its genetic instructions were very clear: it was not to change the appearance of its host in any way; stealth would be necessary in the early days. Over the next seven to eight hours the Zerg organ would gather and store samples of Jaune's genome as it was for future analysis by an Evolution Master, hijack his immune system to begin the Zerg's constant hunt for beneficial mutations and eradication of the negative, and modify his nervous system for greater sensitivity to the Hive Mind.

"It's morning!"

The fact that Nora only said it once was a sign of her grief. Nothing could stop Nora from being hyperactive, but grief made her _less_ hyperactive.

Jaune groaned and tried to go back to sleep.

"Jaune," Ren added, "You need to wake up. We need to meet up with Ruby."

"You cannot go Jaune Arc. The Grimm will only ignore the Hatchery for so long, and then it will be undefended."

That was a voice Jaune had believed to be a strange dream, merely wishful thinking on his part. On the spot, Jaune had to think of something that his team would believe.

"Ren, Nora… I don't think I can go."

"What? Of course you can!"

"No, Nora, I really can't. I'm just not good enough."

"Jaune, if this is about Pyrrha, she stopped you from going after her."

"It's not about Pyrrha!" He yelled, then he took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry. It's just not. It's about me… I know that I'm not good enough because I cheated my way into Beacon."

Silence.

Jaune turned away. He couldn't look at them, not now. He continued, "No one ever trained me until Pyrrha. No one believed in me until she did. Not my sisters, not my parents, nobody. I found some fake transcripts and used them to get in because I saw a way to get my dream of being a hero like my father, and his father, and his before him. If I went with you two and Ruby I'd be a liability and get you all killed. I can't go… I just can't."

"Come on Nora. We need to go." Ren didn't sound angry, or even disappointed. For a moment, Jaune thought it was something like understanding. Of course, he got distracted by one of Nora's crushing hugs, but she didn't seem to be able to think of something to say, so she left with her longtime friend.

Jaune looked out the window and watched them go. He needed to wait until they were out of earshot, but leave before they got to Ruby or she might use her Semblance to find and confront him.

"The Swarm's leader must come to the Hatchery. Zerg do not have the negative emotions that draw Grimm, but they may attack if they discover the Hatchery unguarded."

Jaune pressed his fingers against his forehead and asked, "Are you the Hive Mind?"

"Yes. Jaune Arc, you do not need to perform that gesture or speak out loud to communicate with other Zerg."

"Oh," he said, once more out loud, then felt foolish.

As he walked through the forest, he mentally asked, "So, uh, what exactly did that thing from last night do to me? I don't feel any different."

"The Larva made only a few changes so as to preserve your appearance to prevent detection by potentially hostile forces. You are slightly stronger and faster than you were before, and you are receptive to the psionic link uniting all Zerg. Further improvements can only be made once an Evolution Master is spawned."

At that, the Hive Mind sent him a list of requirements. Apparently to create one of those, the Hatchery needed to transform into a Lair, and an Evolution Chamber needed to spawn and then morph into an Evolution Pit, and the Zerg needed more resources for that.

Jaune suddenly felt multiple new presences in the Hive Mind, and asked one, "Who are you?"

"I am a Drone," the voice that came through was dull, emotionless, and provided no further information.

"Okay… what do you do?"

"I collect resources."

Before Jaune could ask anything else of the decidedly not-talkative Drone, the Hive Mind commented, "Jaune Arc, you need not ask each individual Zerg what it does, only direct your questions at the Hive Mind."

"You refer to yourself in the third person?" He asked the Hive Mind.

"There is no person to refer to. You only 'hear' a voice in your head because your unconscious mind did not evolve to process a data stream external to your body."

"Uh… what?"

"There is no 'I' to be referred to when speaking of the Hive Mind. The voice will stop speaking when you understand more, or when an Evolution Master improves your mind."

"Ohhh, I think I get it now. So what do Drones do?"

He thought he got flashes of blue crystalline structures and geysers spewing green gas, but after a moment the voice explained, "Drones gather resources that are used to spawn new Zerg organisms and structures. Normally, the Zerg use minerals and vespene gas from the environment, but this environment lacks those resources, so the Drones harvest biomass: flora and small fauna."

Jaune shook himself, "What's going on with these visions in my head?"

"What you call Aura appears to cause some interference with the psionic signal of the Hive Mind."

Jaune finally made it and stepped onto the slime.

"Eww! What is this for?" he exclaimed aloud.

"Creep nourishes Zerg structures, consumes nearby biomass, and accelerates Zerg organisms moving across it."

"Alright, how does–"

He was interrupted by nearby howling.

Preparing himself, Jaune saw a dozen normal Beowolves and an alpha trying to encircle him. He backed against the Hatchery so that the Grimm couldn't attack from behind, only from the sides. That would be bad enough.

Luckily for Jaune he was Zerg now, and the psionic link between all Zerg extended to its unicellular organisms. As a result, the Creep informed him that two were approaching from the left.

Those who had seen Jaune fight would call it panicked flailing at even the best of times, but after so many months of training with Pyrrha it was panicked flailing with a purpose and Jaune soon dispatched the two Grimm that had set foot on Zerg soil. Well, slime, but there were more pressing matters than nomenclature to deal with.

One came from the front and three more from behind, surprised that this lone human could put up such a fight, but the boy in white armor would surprise them again. Dashing forward, the Creep gave Jaune some extra speed and he blocked a claw swipe from the first Beowolf with his shield and used his sword to stab it through its heart, then he spun around and decapitated the next two, Crocea Mors lodging halfway into the last Grimm's throat.

Realizing that overwhelming force was necessary here, the remaining six Grimm ran forward.

Pyrrha had taught him that even a shield could be a weapon, and with that in mind Jaune stabbed the first Grimm then whirled around and slammed his shield against the next closest's face, stunning it and brought his sword down again, bifurcating a third Beowolf's head.

The remaining two normal Beowolves stood on either side of their alpha. Not understanding how the human knew where each of them were during the entire battle, the last three left, snarling as they fled back into the forest.

Hearing a tree fall over, Jaune looked behind him and saw the Drones busily carving it into easily carried chunks. They hadn't even spared him a glance during the battle. Two of them delivered their cargo and then one broke away from the pack and started carving up the Grimm remains to take to the Hatchery, and the other approached Jaune.

"Um, dead Grimm evaporate. I don't think you'll get much biomass from that."

"Zerg digestion is extremely rapid and efficient. The Swarm will harvest what it can from the Grimm before it can evaporate."

"Alright, but now what are you doing?" he asked the Drone that hovered close to him, before realizing that he ought to ask the Hive Mind.

"Zerg structures morph from Drones, and the Hatchery has collected enough biomass to create a Spawning Pool. The Spawning Pool will allow the production of Zerglings to defend the Hatchery. This Drone is awaiting a decision regarding where to become a Spawning Pool."

Putting his strategic mind to use, Jaune looked around the area. The Hatchery was in a crater, the walls of which obstructed its view, but on one side the forest was denser than the others. There really wasn't anywhere that would be a good location.

"If it won't interfere with anything put it right there, next to the Hatchery. It needs to be defended if it's what lets the Hatchery spawn its defenses."

The Drone scuttled (or was it glided?) off and became a translucent purple cyst that erupted a few minutes later into what looked like a pool of green slime with teeth lining its rim. During those minutes, the Hive Mind also informed him of the need for Overlords ("I thought I was the Zerg overlord?") to increase the potency and range of the Hive Mind. The bulbous balloon-like Zerg looked like it might be the size of a bullhead or maybe bigger.

"I know it's supposed to be like the the CCT for Zerg, but why does it need to be so big? We'll never stay hidden with that thing floating around!"

More flashes of creatures, this time entering the Overlord. It was only a little, but it was enough; Overlords could apparently double as a transport system.

Four Larvae became membranous green eggs. Three hatched in a matter of seconds, revealing six of the _things_ that the Hive Mind called Zerglings. They were low to the ground and stood on four legs, like dogs, and they did have a mouthful of sharp teeth, but any resemblance to canines ended there. It was all dark purple flesh and brown armor, with two huge tusks beside its jaws and a pair of three-pronged scythe-like limbs attached to its shoulders.

The last egg hatched about a minute later after growing much larger, becoming a towering figure with a vaguely humanoid upper half attached to a bug-like abdomen. It had a spearlike limb attached to either shoulder and thin membranes between each of its six legs.

"What are you?!"

Before responding, the creature appeared to spit a mixture of fluids onto the Hatchery, which Jaune noticed appeared to respond by rapidly spawning more Larvae. Then it answered vocally in a tone that suggested some degree of thought, and possibly even some emotion.

"I am a Queen, my Lord. I tend the Hatchery and assist in its defense."

"A queen!? Please tell me we're not married, I did not sign up for that!"

If the Hive Mind could sigh it would have. As it was it merely explained, "Queen is merely the designation for the Zerg organism. Matrimonial bonds are not necessary for the Swarm."

"Oh thank God!" Jaune exclaimed, watching as the queen spat more fluids onto the Hatchery. He shuddered at the idea of kissing that mouth.

He shuddered again, this time in fear, as more Beowolves emerged from the trees. The Alpha Beowolf that had fled earlier had returned with reinforcements.

Jaune prepared his sword and shield, but he was taken by surprise by a projectile whizzing over his head, killing a Beowolf instantly. He looked back in time for the Queen to spit another one and for the Zerglings to rush past him, screeching. The initiative seemed to surprise the Grimm, who took a second to resume their normal hostility.

A Zergling lunged for a Beowolf and performed a maneuver that left Jaune's jaw hanging open; its tusks pinched the Grimm's throat and the Zergling used its momentum to fling itself up onto the Beowolf's back, and once there it drove its scythe limbs into the monster's skull, killing it instantly.

The other five Zerglings were less flashy, but no less effective, settling for gutting their enemies, and as the Zerglings attacked, every spine the Queen fired was expertly aimed and killed a Beowolf. The alpha charged, its bodyguards flanking it, and they used their greater mass to simply plow the Zerglngs out of their way as they charged the Queen. Jaune stepped into their path and managed to dispatch one Grimm with a stab, but the alpha swatted him aside with a claw sharp and strong enough to momentarily displace his aura and leave deep scratches in his flesh.

Jaune rolled and clutched his side, trying to keep the blood in, and saw that his heroism was unnecessary. Another spine dispatched the other bodyguard, and then the Queen's spearlike limbs revealed their purpose, one deflecting a strike from the alpha, and the other driving itself into its head.

A pair of remaining normal Beowolves saw Jaune on the ground and lunged for him, only for a Zergling to leap into their path. The armored carapace held up well, but the other flesh did not and its screeches changed into those of pain. Both Grimm suddenly yelped and ceased mauling their prey as the other Zerglings returned from their battle at the forest's edge to aid their comrade, eviscerating the monsters.

And just like that, the battle was over, this time with no opposing survivors to call yet more Grimm to their location. Jaune lay on the ground, his Aura struggling to heal his wounds, and leaving him exhausted as a result, and the injured Zergling beside him, one bladed limb gnawed to the bone and a forelimb dangling by threads.

The Queen approached them as though nothing had happened and started smearing some red liquid across Jaune's wounds. He saw that his injuries were sealing even faster than his Aura could do alone.

"I'll be fine, help him!" Jaune pointed at the more seriously injured Zergling.

The Hive Mind addressed this in his head, "Zerglings can create every necessary nutrient and compound their bodies need from anything they can eat. The wounded will recover if given enough to eat."

True enough, the Zergling was gnawing on what parts of the Beowolves it could reach without moving, and new flesh was slowly, but visibly growing around its exposed bones and between its nearly severed forelimb and body. A Drone moved off the line of workers and helpfully pushed one of the Grimm corpses closer to it.

"How soon until I have an army?" the would-be Huntsman asked tiredly.

The Queen addressed this question since he said it out loud. "Eventually you will have both, but in the short term you must decide if you want a strong army or a numerous one. If you desire the latter, command us to spawn more Zerglings. If you wish for the former, our resources must be put towards new and improved structures."

The Hive Mind sent another flash of images and concepts. The Hatchery had enough biomass to morph into a Lair, which would provide no immediate benefits apart from greater armor, but would allow the creation of more structures and through them stronger Zerg.

"Morph the Lair, spawn a few more Zerglings and Overlords when necessary, then start saving resources for, uh," he paused, trying to make sense of the flurry of visions, "the Evolution Pit. I'll plan more once that's complete."

A stray Ursa wandered into the growing clearing, but beyond that there were no further Grimm incursions, at least in part because Jaune was the only one present capable of negative emotions. The Hatchery pulsed like a beating Heart for several minutes before transforming into a Lair, and soon after the Evolution Chamber spawned and morphed into an Evolution Pit. Jaune would have called it a cave, but upon entering he understood the name. Apparently much of the transformation had been dedicated to creating a deep, sloping chasm inside it.

A chasm that unleashed a horror into the light of day.

Jaune recoiled in horror, once again shouting, "What are _you_?!" at the creature. It looked like someone had taken a giant slug, taught it to walk like a man, then stuck arms and legs and pincers and pustules from different kinds of species all over to make the ugliest thing they could.

"Am Evolution Master. Unique Zerg organism. Examine essence. Spin strands. Improve Swarm." Like the Queen, this creature spoke out loud, but where the queen had mandibles, this thing seemed to have just a hole below its eyes.

"So, you're unique. Does that mean you have a name?"

"Name unnecessary. Inefficient. Duplicate of organism Abathur, Evolution Master in service to Queen of Blades."

"Okay… I don't want to call you Abathur in case your elder still exists, so I think I'll call you…" he thought for a moment, "Ruhtaba!"

"Name acceptable."

"C'mon, you know it's a good one!"

"Based on Organism Jaune Arc's memories of alphabet, Ruhtaba is Abathur backwards. Creativity minimal."

Deciding to end the discussion about the creativity (or lack thereof) of the name Ruhtaba, Jaune approached the subject that had been nagging at him since he heard about it. "So I heard from the Hive Mind that you can improve me? I mean, I know I look perfect but–"

"Appearance irrelevant. Grasper limb poorly formed. Inefficient. Can improve."

The Evolution Master moved forward ominously, main arms outstretched. Jaune backed up and pointed his sword at Ruhtaba.

"No touching without permission, and appearance _is_ relevant to _me_. How would you improve me without changing my appearance?"

"Challenge harder. Must take sample, examine." Ruhtaba reached for Jaune, but did not touch him. Instead he went into a kind of trance.

"Uh, what is he doing?" Jaune asked the Hive Mind.

"The original Larva formed a new organ in your body that – in addition to its other purposes – took samples of your essence before turning you into a Zerg. Ruhtaba is examining those strands and your new ones to determine what he can improve without altering your physical appearance."

Ruhtaba came out of the trance, "Convergent evolution. Strands, anatomy, physiology similar to Terrans. Unique differences. Appear to cause what Organism Jaune Arc's memories refer to as Aura and Semblance."

"Hang on, did Terrans not have souls or something? Everything but Grimm has an Aura, Pyrrha told me so! And how are you looking at my memories when all I can get are flashes from the Hive Mind?"

Ruhtaba suddenly brought his quartet of spikes much closer to Jaune. Were they sensors or something? They were poking and prodding, stopping just shy of his skin because of his Aura.

"Aura unique to planet. Intangible barrier. Possibly passive psionic field. Explains interference. Will experiment." Ruhtaba promptly turned around and wandered back into his pit, where Jaune was a little afraid to follow.

"So does this mean you can't improve me?" He called out.

"Not yet."

Jaune emerged from the pit only to see the sun beginning to set. The forest was much more dangerous at night. He would have to stay at the Hatchery… it was something he ought to get used to, but simply hadn't thought of all day. He hadn't even brought his onesie! With a sigh, he sat down on the surprisingly warm Creep and leaned against the Hatchery, letting the day's mental and physical exhaustion cause him to slip into slumber.

When Jaune awoke the next morning, he discovered that the clearing was quite a bit larger in all directions and several more Overlords were positioned around the perimeter.

Realizing that this also meant that they were moving closer to the city, he commanded, "We need to stop expanding towards Vale. Focus your efforts going that way, deeper into the forest."

Immediately all Drones ceased what they were doing and moved in the direction he indicated.

"Organism Jaune active, physiology functioning optimally. Can improve now."

"Really?" He got to his feet and looked towards Ruhtaba, "How?"

"Weapon, armor inefficient. Can evolve better. Metabolism inefficient. Requires sleep. Can modify, improve. Muscle fibers inefficient. Zerg tissues superior. Aura, passive psionic barrier; interferes with Zerg connection. Can integrate both, remove interference, strengthen Aura."

Jaune's mouth hung open for a moment, then he asked, "What about my Semblance?"

"Semblance unknown, defensive. Requires experimentation. Dependent on Aura, will strengthen regardless of ability."

"What do I need to do?"

"Follow."

Jaune obeyed, following the slug-like Zerg into the Evolution Pit, down into the chasm until they were at a pool of translucent green slime.

"Remove obstructions, enter mutagen pool."

"Obstructions?"

"Clothing, armor will interfere with new tissue growth. Unnecessary."

"Hang on, I thought I said not to change my appearance. What exactly are you going to do that I need to be naked?"

"Body will grow, accommodate retractable armor. Extensible blade in right forelimb, replace sword functionality. Expandable bone in left forelimb, replace shield. Improve musculature, adjust organs, remove unnecessary. Improve cellular functions."

Jaune looked at Crocea Mors hanging at his hip… it was a hand-me-down, but it was also from his family.

"Is there somewhere safe to keep this? I don't want it lost."

Ruhtaba looked at the sword and its collapsed shield-sheath.

"Will modify tissue on Hatchery, create biological sheath. Artifact Crocea Mors will be kept safe."

"Thank you. Now I need to get undressed."

Neither of them moved.

"I said, I need to get undressed."

"Repetition unnecessary."

"Then why aren't you leaving?"

"Inefficient." There was a pause as the Evolution Master gathered the necessary concepts to understand what Jaune wanted through the link to his mind. "Modesty pointless. Can remove emotion."

"You are forbidden to remove any of my emotions, Ruhtaba, and as the Swarm's leader I am ordering you to leave until I am in the mutagen pool."

The creature left without argument.

Unsurprisingly, the slime in the mutagen pool was slimy, but it soon had a numbing effect so the disgusting texture soon faded from Jaune's mind.

"Organism Jaune must submerge."

"Uh, why?" he asked, not wanting his head to go under the slime.

"Message from Queen of Blades to potential successors: without total submersion, metamorphosis will be excruciating."

That was a good enough reason for him, so he dove under, and soon he was numb all over and passed out.

Jaune was not quite unconscious. He could not feel his body, but he was somehow aware, and… scattered. He caught glimpses of the tree tops from the eyes of Overlords, the process of tearing apart those trees into digestible chunks from the view of the Drones, and even saw himself through Ruhtaba's eyes.

Across so many bodies but not adapted to handling it, Jaune lost all track of time and even space.

Suddenly he surfaced from the slime coughing and gasping for air. He stumbled out of the pool and fell on his face.

"Brain adjusting to new body proportions. Side effect of Aura resisting changes."

Jaune stood up cautiously and looked down at himself.

He wasn't naked… well, he was, but not visibly. The Zerg's brownish green chitin covered him from head to toe in a suit of biological armor that would rival the mighty Ultralisk… which he now knew about, because his link to the Hive Mind was far smoother, and now flowed easily both ways. He looked at his left arm and it's slight bulge and with a thought chitin and bone burst into a shield. Looking at his right, at another thought a biological blade erupted from his forearm. It would take him some time to master his new "sword" and its position, but it wasn't as if he'd been much good with Crocea Mors anyway.

He walked over to the pool and saw himself in its faintly reflective surface, only to nearly fall back in fright. He looked truly monstrous, a creature of spikes and bony plates that would not look out of place on a Deathstalker. What had he become?

Answering his mental question, Ruhtaba replied, "You are Zerg. Leader must be strong, durable. Human Jaune was insufficient. Made you great."

Still looking into the pool, Jaune concentrated on his old appearance, and saw each armor plate retract until it was beneath his skin… but it wasn't perfect. Everywhere that the chitin had submerged there was a thin violet line, giving him the appearance of having an intricate full-body tattoo. Letting the armor emerge again to cover himself, Jaune gathered his clothing, old armor, and Crocea Mors and removed them from the pit.


	9. Arc Brood, Part 2

It took another week, but Jaune finally had a force that he believed was ready to move out. He now had Roaches and Hydralisks in his forces, and the Overlords were now faster and capable of carrying other Zerg inside their body cavities. Jaune even decided to bring some Drones and Ruhtaba with him to the outskirts of Atlas, reasoning that it would take too long to expand his current base from its current location into the neighboring kingdom, so he would simply have to morph a second Hatchery and Evolution Pit once they found a good location.

Despite the Overlords' new speed, travel was slow. They had to keep stopping to let out Hydralisks to kill the giant Nevermores that had been emboldened by all the negativity that came from the broadcast of the Battle of Beacon. Jaune let his anger with Cinder Fall build as they passed ruined villages and towns. He reasoned that the angrier he got, the more Grimm would come and be slaughtered by his Zerg, saving lives in the long run.

With the CCT network down across all four kingdoms, the Zerg were relatively safe from detection in their new locale, but Jaune still kept them far away from Atlas' main cities. He was fairly certain based on the Hive Mind's memories that his Swarm could defeat the Atlesian military, but he didn't want that on his conscience.

His army disembarked, and the Drones that had come along immediately got to work, some morphing into new structures, others beginning to gather resources, and at the same time Roaches, Hydralisks, and even Jaune himself began clearing away all the Grimm in the area. There was no dragon nearby that could draw them all away, so the place was infested.

"Ruhtaba, as soon as the new Evolution Pit is complete I need you to work on a way to detect large Auras. As a Maiden, Cinder Fall's should be enormous."

"Request difficult. Aura, short range passive defense. Similar to Protoss shields." There was a pause as Jaune siphoned information about the Protoss directly from the Hive Mind.

"Difficult isn't impossible. Can you do it?"

"Will need to experiment. Most likely solution mutation of Overseer."

Jaune sifted through the Zerg's collective knowledge about the Overseer and its abilities, but he found something else that could work too. "Is there any way to extend how long the Changelings can survive?"

Ruhtaba paused in thought. "Changeling anatomy unstable for adaptive mimicry. Result is time limit. Extension would require less physiological flexibility."

"Yes, but it doesn't need that flexibility. We don't need it to mimic Protoss or Grimm, only humans or faunus."

"Human possible. Faunus requires sample."

Jaune felt momentarily uneasy about giving Ruhtaba a faunus to experiment on, but then he thought of the White Fang leader who'd chopped off Yang's arm and lead the attack on Vale. _He_ would go straight to the Evolution Pit.

"Okay Ruhtaba, here's what I want you to do: keep working on the modifications to the Overseer, but try to stabilize the Changelings so that they can last longer and even talk if that's possible. I want them to be able to go into the city and spy on the criminals. I'm only going to send in the Overseer as a last resort because it might cause a panic and it will definitely let Cinder Fall know that something's up."

"Modifications extensive. Will take time."

Jaune briefly considered entering the city himself, but decided against it. The Zerg had changed his body, but more fundamentally he was still Jaune Arc – and Jaune Arc did not have the necessary skills to gather intelligence from the criminal underworld. Not to mention his new "tattoo"; it made him stand out in a crowd.

After two weeks, the Changelings still weren't ready. When Jaune dove into Ruhtaba's mind to discover what the hold up was, he realized just how monumental the task of changing them so dramatically really was. Reluctantly, he told the Evolution Master to stop and just sent in the modified Overseers with an escort of some newly spawned Mutalisks and a couple of Overlords brimming with ground troops in case something happened. A dark and vengeful part of Jaune wanted to kill Cinder Fall personally, but he would not allow his Zerg to pass up the chance of killing her if it was available.

Moving his consciousness inside one of the scouts, Jaune was amazed at the dazzling array of sights and colors radiating throughout the city of Atlas – the sight of everyone's Auras was stunning, but he continued looking for strong or unusual ones. Odd shapes or brighter, more intense colors.

As he feared, Jaune heard Atlas' air raid sirens starting to go off. Couldn't they see that his Zerg weren't Grimm? They weren't attacking anything either. They hadn't found anything worth attacking.

Apparently the stereotype about Atlas' military having a policy of "shoot first, ask questions later" was true.

One of the Overseers gurgled to get Jaune's attention. The people on the ground were panicking, but what was so important about that?

Oh.

Oh no.

As one, all the airborne Zerg turned around and looked towards the city borders and could see hordes of Grimm gathering for an attack, including Goliaths. But how had they avoided the Hive Cluster? Had they deliberately gone around it?

Jaune had no time to ponder that. He sent the Mutalisks out with orders to ignore any Atlesian aircraft and focus solely on killing the Grimm before they could scale the city walls.

The Mutalisks were able to stall the black tide long enough for Jaune to have a disturbing thought; had they somehow expected the people to panic? Had they known this was coming?

There were only a dozen or so Mutalisks, but there were hundreds, maybe even thousands of Grimm approaching, including Goliaths. The Ursai and Deathstalkers seemed content to wait, but the Goliaths were approaching the gates and the Beowolves were now scaling the walls, despite the efforts of the Huntsmen and Huntresses that Jaune could see. Worse still, the Overseers could see Nevermores and Griffins on their way.

Jaune felt a stab of fear and self-loathing as he saw one group in particular – a trio in red, green, and pink respectively.

His friends, Ruby Rose, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie.

Scanning the Hive Mind for anything that could help, he set out an immediate command: "Both Hive Clusters, cancel all current production and immediately morph a Nydus Network!"

At the same time a Goliath broke away from the rest of the group and slammed into the wall. Jaune thought that was foolish until one of the Overseers' many eyes spotted the result – the wall itself was unharmed, but the tremor had knocked several people off, including Ruby!

Immediately he sacrificed the Overlords to get between the people and the Grimm as they released their cargo. Eight Zerglings, two Roaches, and two Hydralisks were not much in the face of so many Grimm, but this was not about victory, merely stalling for reinforcements.

The four second-tier Zerg focused their fire to bring down the Goliath before it could do any more damage, and while one Zergling stayed by Ruby's side since she seemed to have been dazed, the rest charged into battle to assist the fallen Huntsmen and Huntresses.

While trigger-happy, the Atlesian military was not stupid and had rapidly realized that whatever the Zerg were, they were opposed to the Grimm, and soon bombers and Paladins had arrived to assist. Jaune would have thanked God, but with the Zerg's collective memories of Amon fresh in his mind he'd been much less religious lately.

Both sides momentarily stopped fighting as the earth trembled violently and the Nydus Worm arrived, momentarily looming over the Grimm and roaring at them before descending to ground level and spitting out hordes of Zerg reinforcements.

No longer concerned about self-preservation, the Zerg that had arrived in the Overlords renewed their efforts. They did not quite abandon their charges, but they fought with greater ferocity now that they could focus on offense rather than defense.

Very soon the fields outside the walls of Atlas were littered with the evaporating remains of Grimm. More Zerg had died than Jaune had expected, but he'd underestimated the intelligence of the Goliaths. Several times the elephantine Grimm had managed to flank his forces and they wrought havoc each time. He'd also deliberately sacrificed more than a few of them to protect his friends.

"Ruhtaba, I want you go to front lines and take essence samples from as many Grimm as you can and then tell me everything you can about them."

The Evolution Master set off through the Nydus Worm without another word.

"Violet," he mentally called to one of the Queens, "I want you to go with Ruhtaba and keep him safe. I don't think anyone will attack him, but I want to be sure. And if anyone talks to you, you can talk back, just don't mention me in anything you say."

"I obey."

Unfortunately, a giant slug eating the evaporating remains of Grimm accompanied by a creature with no analogue in Remnant's history was not a common sight, and there was soon a crowd gathered around the Nydus Worm. No one seemed brave enough to set foot on the Creep, but their mere presence was making things harder.

Through his Zerg, Jaune could hear them muttering amongst themselves.

"What are they?" "What are they doing?" "They fought the Grimm so they can't be that bad, right?" "They came before the Grimm, what if they called them here?" "But then why did they fight each other?"

"Should I answer them my Lord?"

"No Violet. Unless one of them talks to you directly don't speak, and I really don't think any of them will–"

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"

Violet was suddenly subjected to a hug that made her exoskeleton groan. Transferring his consciousness to the Nydus Worm, Jaune took a look at who had the nerve to prove him wrong in the middle of speaking… and was not the least bit surprised to see that it was Nora.

Barely taking a breath, Nora continued, "Renalmostgoteatenbyagriffinbutoneofyourlittlethingspushedhimawayandgoteateninsteadandthankyousomuch!"

Through her connection to Jaune, the Queen understood Nora's rapid, nearly hysterical speech, and since it constituted someone directly speaking to her, she replied, "You are welcome, strange human child."

A wall of silence seemed to radiate outward after Violet spoke, only interrupted when a Zergling forced its way through the stunned onlookers leading Ren and Ruby to their eccentric teammate.

Jaune was quite glad that Nydus Worms didn't have tear ducts; being so close and yet so far from the team he was supposed to be part of was rather emotional for him.

"Come on Nora, you shouldn't bother the nice, ummm…"

_Trust Ren to be the sensible member in the team_ , Jaune thought with a roll of his eyes… only realizing a second too late that this caused him to roll the Nydus Worm's eyes, causing the crowd to laugh nervously as they realized that all the creatures could understand them.

_Real smooth Jaune_.

As Jaune was busy mentally scolding himself, the Queen answered Ren's implied question.

"I am a Zerg, as are the rest of us," Violet gestured to the Zergling, the Nydus Worm, and all the other surrounding Zerg.

Since it seemed that the Queen was willing to take questions, suddenly everyone started shouting their questions, and the Queen, still stuck in Nora's embrace, psychically asked Jaune if she should answer them.

Jaune thought hard about that. On the one hand, the less anyone knew about the Zerg, the less Cinder Fall and her lackeys would know about them, and that could only be a good thing. On the other hand, if the people knew about the Zerg, and knew that they weren't hostile, then maybe their mere presence wouldn't trigger anymore Grimm incursions.

"As I ordered earlier, you must not mention me in anything you say, but you also can't let them know that we're hunting Cinder Fall – if she finds out, she may slip away and we'd never be able to find her."

"Understood my Lord."

Violet attempted to say something, but couldn't be heard over the cacophony of so many voices, so the Nydus Worm roared for silence, making everyone flinch at the volume.

"As I was trying to say, I cannot hear you when you are all shouting at once. I will linger and answer questions while my companion works," she gestured to Ruhtaba, who was now tearing into the wing of a fallen griffin, "but only if you ask one at a time."

There was some murmuring in the crowd and a purple-haired huntress came forward. Jaune got a flash of memories from a Zergling that had fought beside her; it seemed that she dual-wielded hammers that released small explosive charges on impact. Apparently she was now the designated spokesperson.

"Are you the Zerg's leader?" She spoke clearly, and was being direct and to the point. Weiss had once said that Atlas was very military oriented – apparently this was an impromptu interrogation.

There was a short pause while Violet and Jaune debated how to answer that, then the Queen replied, "My position is somewhat analogous to that of one of your generals."

"Why are the Zerg in Atlas?"

"We are seeking something. I cannot say more than that."

"Why not?"

"I am under orders not to. I believe that is something you understand."

"Alright. What are the Zerg's intentions while they are here?"

"There is an implied question there, and I shall answer that one: we did not intend to cause a panic, nor did we plan to draw the Grimm to the city. I am answering these questions in the hope of preventing future panics."

"So you have no intention of attacking us?"

"No." The Queen paused and communed a bit more with Jaune before crafting an excuse for future military action, "The Zerg are not hostile to any of the four kingdoms, however there are certain individuals that may be in possession of what we seek. If they have it and will not surrender it peacefully, we reserve the right to attack."

The huntress frowned at that, and the crowd murmured uneasily. "Is there a way to identify these individuals?"

"Unfortunately, not for you. Our Overseers," Violet pointed to one, "are capable of seeing them if they are present, but their search was interrupted by the arrival of the Grimm."

She didn't seem to like that answer, but she moved on to the next one. "Why is your companion eating Grimm?"

Another pause, longer as Violet, Jaune, and Ruhtaba debated the pros and cons of telling the truth and how much of it. Jaune decided that the truth could bring hope, and that was sorely needed right now.

"He is capable of examining the essence of anything he consumes. He is learning what the Grimm are at the most fundamental level, so that we may better understand and kill them."

That brought a small cheer from the crowd, and even the interrogator smiled at that.

"Why did you save us?"

Violet – and through her, Jaune – looked to the speaker. That hadn't been the interrogator – that had been Ruby. How in the world to answer that?

"We… felt guilty that we may in some way have caused the Grimm attack, and hoped to make amends by assisting in the city's defense."

Ruby looked up and elaborated, "No, I mean, why us specifically," she gestured to herself, Ren, and Nora, who had finally transferred her hug from the Queen to her friend. Before Violet or Jaune could think of something to say, Ruby continued, "You had to sacrifice your little dog-bug-thingies multiple times to save us. Why?"

This was a question that the Queen could not answer, and Jaune struggled to think of one that would be successful. Some platitude about protecting children? What could he say?

"I am afraid that I do not know how to answer that question."

The interrogator looked a little miffed at Ruby for interrupting the questioning, but continued as if it hadn't happened. "Why do you periodically pause before answering questions?"

"When I pause, I am communing with my leader on how best to answer them. Everything I have told you is true, but my leader has the final say on what can and cannot be said."

"How are you… 'communing' with your leader? I don't see a device anywhere."

"All Zerg are connected through a hive mind. Through it, my leader can sense all that any Zerg can, and act on the information immediately."

A murmur broke out again at that, and the interrogator went back, brow furrowed in thought. As she did so though, Ruby spoke up again.

"That means that your leader decided to make the small Zerg sacrifice themselves for us. Why?"

Very quietly, so that the crowd could not hear it, Jaune told Violet to reply, "I cannot tell you the full truth, but we are seeking the same thing."

"Cinder?"

"Hush, child! The less that is spoken, the less it shall be heard!"

Ruby's eyes widened, but she nodded in understanding.

"Organism Violet," Ruhtaba had finally finished. He was visibly bulging from having devoured so much Grimm flesh.

"Violet?" Ruby, Ren, and Nora all asked.

"My leader gave me that name to differentiate me from my identical siblings. What is it Ruhtaba?"

"Task complete, must return to Evolution Pit, examine sequences. Grimm essence strange. Must experiment."

"Very well. I shall have the Drones pull as many of the Grimm carcasses as can be salvaged back to the Hive Cluster."

"Wait," Violet paused to look back at Ruby. "Can we go with you? We're after… you know, and we know things about it."

Violet paused, but after a command from Jaune approached the silver-eyed girl and as quietly as possible whispered, "Return here after the attention has died down. I shall be waiting to escort you." Violet stepped away from the girl and spoke loudly, announcing, "My companion has completed his task, and so now I must leave you to your own devices."

Jaune pulled his consciousness back to his body in time to see Ruhtaba entering the Evolution Pit and followed him.

"Ruhtaba, I'm not sure how open or closed my mind was to you when I ordered you to examine the Grimm. Do you know why I asked you to do that?"

"Reason irrelevant. Command from Swarm's leader. I obey."

"Right, um, well, I asked because during the battle I had a couple of sneaking suspicions and I want you to find out if they're true or not. First, do the Grimm have their own hive mind, and second, are they being designed in the same way the Zerg are?"

Ruhtaba actually paused in his work, not something that happened often. "Organism Jaune's hypotheses intriguing, but connected to emotions fear, anxiety. Why?"

"During the battle I got the feeling that the Grimm were actually trying to outmaneuver us, and it occurred to me that the only way they could be doing that is if someone were directing them. I also remembered that for the most part they fought _alongside_ the White Fang at the Battle of Beacon, something Grimm shouldn't do unless they're being controlled. If that's the case, we're fighting someone who has a lot more experience fielding armies than me… and people always say that if you go deep into the wilds the Grimm get a lot deadlier."

Ruhtaba absorbed this information and asked for more. "Question of Grimm design is related somehow?"

"Grimm are never hostile to each other, but the animals that they're based on can be. I had a really disturbing thought that the varieties of Grimm are like the Zerg's units – different strains of the same species for different purposes."

Ruhtaba nodded in understanding. "Harder to look for signs of design than of hive mind, but possible. Will look into it."

"Thank you."

"My Lord," Violet began as Jaune emerged from the pit, "I know that it is not my place to question you, but is it wise to permit Ruby Rose, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie to come to the Hive Cluster? You said yourself that you want your identity to be kept a secret."

"I know what I said, but I feel like I owe them an explanation, and they also said they have information on Cinder Fall, and anything that helps us find her is worth it."

"And when we find her are we to kill her? According to your memories, doing so would release the power she possesses. Would it not be better to take this power for the Swarm?"

Her question infuriated Jaune. The idea of _not_ killing Cinder Fall had never once crossed his mind… but the power of a Maiden would go to the last person she thought of. What if she thought of some unknown accomplice? And when Ozpin had said he would hold her off, hadn't Cinder said something? Something about a mysterious "she" being right about him?

Jaune wanted badly to kill something at that moment, because it was beginning to look like he might have to spare Cinder Fall in the name of interrogation.

His agitation began bleeding into his Zerg, and many of them began snarling and snapping at each other as his internal conflict grew more intense.

Violet, sensing her leader's distress, used what little independence she possessed to come up with an idea. "My Lord, perhaps we can kill your enemy in every way that matters while keeping her power for the Swarm."

Jaune stopped radiating psionic turbulence as he puzzled over that statement. "How?"

"According to your memories, you hate Cinder Fall for who she is and what she has done. We cannot undo the past, but we can remove all that she is."

"You're talking about infesting her, aren't you? The answer is no. I wouldn't be able to stand looking at her day in and day out."

"Not merely infesting her my Lord. Examine the Hive Mind for memories of the entity known as Izsha, and you shall understand what I suggest."

Jaune did as the Queen asked and did not know whether to be disturbed or impressed. Izsha had once been a Terran woman with latent psychic abilities who had managed to draw the old Queen of Blades' attention. Kerrigan had given her over to Abathur with the strict but vague instructions to keep her alive, but make her useful. The result had been an utterly unique organism bound to Kerrigan's personal Leviathan who functioned almost like a scroll. She'd been little more than a place to keep notes and ideas, occasionally using what she knew to offer advice. It was as if the woman she'd been before had never existed…

"I understand what you mean about killing her in every way that matters," he said slowly, "but Cinder Fall has become a Maiden. We'd need to keep her suited for combat."

"I compared her to Izsha merely as an educational aid; Cinder Fall need not become an identical creature."

"Alright, I give in. We'll capture Cinder Fall and turn her over to Ruhtaba for extensive infestation, but anyone else who helped her dies."

Violet bowed. "Of course my Lord."

Several hours passed with Jaune shifting his consciousness between Ruhtaba to get an idea of what he was learning about the Grimm and the Overseers to determine whether or not they had found Fall or her cronies. He had no idea who else was working with her, but he had told the Swarm to look for certain individuals, specifically Cinder's partners in the tournament, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black, along with the White Fang leader, Adam Taurus.

The Overseers had found several locations that were potentially her hideout, being home to individuals with massive Auras, but nothing certain. As it was, they were patrolling to keep an eye on each location at all times without appearing to be interested. On the bright side, life in the city seemed to be returning to normal apart from a few isolated groups that were standing on rooftops to get closer looks at the Overseers.

Ruhtaba's experiments were… unsettling to say the least. Apparently that mutagen pool could be transformed into powerful acid and back at a moment's notice as needed, which was a good thing considering that his experiments demanded that he create Zerg with Grimm sequences. The result was that some came out hostile, and so they were immediately dumped into the acid. One came out of the pool already evaporating. He'd marked that sequence as inefficient and moved on. A handful of other sequences were marked as potentially intriguing, but when Jaune probed more deeply into Ruhtaba's thought processes he found out that those required the Hive and its associated structures and creatures to be tested.

He checked on the Hive Cluster in Vale and found that it was steadily expanding towards the one in Atlas, using a combination of Zergling hordes and Spore Crawlers to ward away any Grimm in its path. It was also close to morphing its Lair into a Hive, but in order to connect both Hive Clusters that would have to wait for the time being.

Lily, the Queen Jaune had left in charge of the Vale base, had actually found an abandoned Dust mine, but to his surprise the Zerg had no interest in Dust after the first Drone had harvested some.

"It is condensed energy – it cannot be used to create biomass. Furthermore, according to your memories it does not function in space. If we are to leave this planet someday, we must be able to function beyond its atmosphere. The Zerg have never used it. The Zerg have never needed it. The Zerg will conquer without it."

Lily illustrated how important it was for Zerg to function beyond the atmosphere by ordering an Overlord to take that first Drone up into space. After a few moments the unfortunate Drone had emitted a terrible squeal of pain and then exploded, the Dust that had incorporated into its body rendering it unable to survive.

As the Overlord began returning a sudden rumble got Jaune's attention. The Nydus Worm furthest from the city's main gate could see three figures approaching it.

"Violet, that's your cue to go."

She gave a slight bow and then scuttled into the Nydus Network, emerging at the other end to greet team… NRR? RNR? RRN?

"Hello Ruby, Ren, Nora."

The trio halted in their tracks. "How do you know our names?"

"All will be revealed in time. Now grab on to me and _do not let go_. The Nydus Worm will not function for an unescorted non-Zerg, and I am reliably informed that traversing its tunnels unassisted is not pleasant for humans."

Ren grabbed one of her hands, Ruby grabbed the other, and Nora being Nora decided to sit astride Violet's abdomen as though she were the world's ugliest horse. Without further delay, they stepped into its mouth.

There are some – such as the people of Remnant – who do not know how travel via Nydus Worm works. The truth is that the worm's entire body is connected to the Nydus Network, and the Zerg are capable of traveling so rapidly through it due to rapid peristalsis on the part of the worm. In other words, one either enters the mouth and exits the… end, or vice versa. Zerg do not experience nausea even when they can comprehend this fact, but people are another story.

And so it was that upon emerging from the Nydus Network at the Atlesian Hive Cluster, Ruby, Ren, and Nora all immediately turned to one side and retched, both due to the trip and comprehension of how they had made it. This was followed by a few minutes of dry heaving when one of them noticed – and inadvertently pointed out to the others – that the Creep immediately began digesting their partially digested dinner.

Violet shook her head. "Human stomachs are weak even this far from the Koprulu Sector. I would ask you to make yourselves more presentable for my Lord, but he misses you too much to wait."

It was actually Nora who was the first to comprehend that statement. "Wait a minute. You mean he knows us?"

At that moment they noticed a tall, intimidating, but surprisingly humanoid figure coming towards them, covered in the Zerg's trademark carapace. He stopped only just out of arms length of them.

Then the armor around its head seemed to melt away to reveal a slightly changed but nonetheless familiar face.

"Hi guys."

"Jaune!?"


	10. Arc Brood, Part 3 - Finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caution: this one's a shade darker than the others, and I politely ask you to refrain from raging until you've read the whole story and my end-note.

Oscar ran his life, dodging debris as the Grimm Ultralisk tore the abandoned barn serving as his hideout apart. He knew that the Beowolves and Zerglings could sense his fear, but Ozpin was claiming that there was a way out not far from here.

They had seemed so close to victory despite the panic caused by the reveal of the Grimm's queen, only for her to reveal that everything had been according to her design.

* * *

It had started a year ago. With the Zerg's help Vale had secured an area to construct a new CCT, and after a long pause the Zerg's representative had agreed to provide protection to a news crew broadcasting the liberation of Vale. The Queen said that her superior believed it was a bad idea, but if the sight would bring hope, so be it.

What people saw brought shock and horror.

Entire buildings were possessed by Geists, becoming lumbering horrors that it took multiple Ultralisks to bring down. Deathstalkers charged through the streets, carrying Beowolves on their backs and delivering them to the front lines. Griffins and Sea Dragons soared through the air, and Mutalisks and Corrupters dropped like colossal flies, crushing anything beneath them.

But only the Zerg left remains.

Normally the Zerg could consume the Grimm for biomass, but these dissipated into dark smoke the moment they suffered a killing blow. Oscar remembered being confused by that, and Ozpin expressing some concern.

But then the feed was hijacked.

At first there was nothing, but then there was a voice. Oscar couldn't remember the words they said, but they had frightened Ozpin. The camera panned up and revealed the frozen dragon, providing much of the world it's first view of such a large Grimm. But far more unsettling was the smoke. The remnants of fallen Grimm gathered and swirled around it, pressing and sliding off some intangible barrier only to try again.

More and more smoke accumulated as the sounds of battle drew closer and then the barrier shattered and the hulking monstrosity breathed.

It shrieked to the heavens and stretched its wings, the effort causing one drop of its darkness to fall to the rooftop and coalesced into a newborn Beowolf.

The bellowing and screeching of the Zerg and the yelps of dying Grimm drew closer. The dragon turned toward the sounds and snarled.

"No. Not this time."

The voice was now clear and smooth as an ice sculpture, and all the more unsettling because the dragon looked toward the speaker. The camera turned now as well, revealing her to the world for the first time.

"Salem." Ozpin had breathed.

Her skin was white as snow, but covered in veins black as night. Her hair was off-white bordering on gray and held in an ornate style with black ribbons. She wore a dress or perhaps a robe that was jet black with red trim. She appeared to have an onyx embedded in the center of her forehead. But most disturbing by far were her eyes: vertical pupils set within a red iris and black sclera. She looked like a demon.

She looked like a Grimm.

Ozpin said something at that point. Oscar didn't know what it was. He was too busy experiencing terror at the existence of a human Grimm. He wanted to deny it – he'd actually been well on his way to convincing himself that he was having a nightmare – but then the dragon lowered its head from off screen for her to pet like a dog and he just knew that his mind could not create such a moment.

"I must admit, I'm rather impressed with you humans and your kingdoms. I expected my Grimm to break you completely after I orchestrated the fall of Vale and the framing of Atlas. Instead you've gone and found an ally more ferocious than anything I've ever seen. I give credit where it is due: you are single minded in your pursuits and strong when united." She paused and looked outward, presumably at the battle. "And now it is my kingdom on the edge of oblivion. No matter. I will not skulk in the shadows to be hunted like an animal. If you truly want to end the long war, come to my domain. I will be waiting. Come Cinder!"

The camera turned briefly to reveal that the dragon was waiting, its wing held stiff like a ramp, allowing Salem and Cinder to climb astride it.

The feed cut out, and resumed as normal. The airborne Grimm were holding the line to cover their queen's escape, and the Grimm on the ground were retreating. Moments later an Overlord landed on the old CCT and a humanoid figure emerged, seemingly inspecting something etched into the ruined roof.

A map with an X marking a location on the forbidden northwestern continent.

"This is a trap," Ozpin said. "It must be. She would never reveal herself unless she had already won. We've got to warn someone, anyone, everyone!" By the end he was almost hysterical.

* * *

In the present, Oscar put some well-honed survival skills to the test, leaping from dead tree to dead tree to avoid Creep-saturated ground.

"You're almost there Oscar. There are powerful concealment spells on the hideout, her forces cannot have discovered it."

And then a shadow moved through the air and knocked him to the ground face first. Creep added some cushion, but it was still painful, to say nothing of the horrible taste.

Oscar started pushing himself to his feet, aware that he needed to get moving, only for the area around him to suddenly illuminate. He turned slightly, only catching a glimpse of flaming blonde hair and crimson eyes before a sudden pain and darkness.

* * *

Oscar groaned as he stirred. His head throbbed harder than it ever had in his life.

"Awake now, Ozpin? I must apologize for Yang. Even though I know otherwise, sometimes I think she doesn't know her own strength."

His eyes opened – well, one of them, the other was apparently swollen shut – but he could see now, and more importantly feel.

He was in some kind of dark fleshy room, bound, there was some kind of illumination he could not place, but there was truly only one thing to see as his chin was grabbed and his head angled upward.

Salem, queen of the Grimm and the Zerg.

"P-please, my name's not Ozpin, it's–"

"Quiet! It doesn't matter who you are, because I can see and hear the other soul hiding behind your eyes. You are a hard soul to track down Ozpin."

Ozpin said nothing, not that Oscar could hear, and apparently nothing that Salem could either.

"You're probably wondering why you're still alive – why I'm delaying my journey to the stars. After all, I've already won. Remnant is mine and mine alone, the Maidens serve me, as does your last silver-eyed warrior, and even your precious relics belong to me."

She paused, basking in an imagined response.

"There is no sense in keeping secrets from the dead, so I'll let you in on one: no matter your form, I have always wanted to see the look on your face when you experience true despair."

Oscar could not stop himself from trembling as the ruler of Remnant took his head in her hands: "I want you to get a first-hand look at this."

Oscar screamed as memories began rushing into his mind, and moments later Ozpin's voice joined him, Salem's laughter accompanying him into the abyss as the seeds of Remnant's destruction took shape in their mind's eye.

* * *

Their first memory was of taking a bite out of a Grimm and knowing immediately that something was wrong, but being overcome by a compulsion to continue eating it. In the background they could hear the sounds of people murmuring and asking questions, only to be silenced by a roar before resuming one at a time.

In a detached way, Oscar experienced a strange feeling of familiarity as Ozpin recognized the voice of Nora Valkyrie, shortly followed by Ruby Rose.

Soon after, he heard the name of the creature whose eyes and ears they were experiencing: Ruhtaba.

They heard the voice of Jaune Arc command the creature, apparently a Zerg Evolution Master, to study the nature of Grimm, but from that moment the Arc Brood was the Salem Brood and they both knew it.

They now saw a different perspective, a Seer's, as the jellyfish-like Grimm reported to Salem not just of Ruhtaba's corruption, but of the steady trickle of knowledge about the Zerg and their leader coming from the Evolution Master. They watched as the Grimm queen digested this information and concocted a new plan.

Directing Ruhtaba personally through her Seers, Salem commanded him to subtly subvert Jaune Arc's campaign. The Evolution Master found what parts of the Grimm' essence controlled their link to the Seers and placed them in all Zerg from that point. As Zerg of every form spawned, the network of spies grew until Salem knew everything there was to know about team RWBY, team JNPR, and the newly formed team RNJR.

Jaune wanted revenge on Cinder Fall – justice for Pyrrha Nikos – and Ruby Rose was Ozpin's long awaited "simple soul" and silver-eyed warrior. The path to victory had always been clear to Salem, but this information provided her the means with which to truly make Ozpin burn.

It was one of the new Seer-bound Queens that suggested the liberation of Vale, with Ruhtaba providing support, saying that the dragon would have powerful essence.

Salem elected to be there to unite the four kingdoms. Once she would have feared such an alliance, but here the perfect trap had fallen into her lap. Her appearance would sow terror and desperation even as it fostered unity among her enemies.

But Jaune Arc's brilliantly strategic mind had more input than Salem would have ever dreamed. He remembered the Evolution Master's claim that Auras were related to psionics and commanded Ruhtaba to create a serum that would not infect anyone, but could boost the Auras and Semblances of Hunters and Huntresses.

"No…" Ozpin groaned. "No…"

At Salem's command, Ruhtaba succeeded beyond either Jaune or Salem's wildest dreams. The serum would indeed boost an Aura and a Semblance… but it would also bind them the Seers, and through them Salem herself, and the Zerg's infectious nature was so rapid when ingested that no one was any wiser. The drinkers were infested and commanded to act normally too quickly for any Atlesian scientist to uncover the truth.

The prospect of a future without Grimm – a happy ending for the entire world – was a siren song too strong for most to ignore. Even Hunters in training answered the call to arms and drank the serum.

Finally, a combined fleet of all of Remnant's militaries led by Hunters and Zerg landed on the continent.

Grimm died in droves but were instantly replaced by ten more of their kind. Salem knew that reinforcements were waiting to deploy at the first sign of trouble. This entire battle was an act, but it needed to look convincing.

"Please, make it stop!"

Hours and millions of Grimm, Zerg, human, and Faunus lives later every single one of Salem's enemies was in combat. The losses of Tyrian, Hazel, Watts, Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald were regrettable, but acceptable. Cinder's death at the hammer of Nora Valkyrie actually saved Salem some time.

Regardless, at that moment she sprang her trap.

The Zerg formed dark cocoons and emerged seconds later wearing the colors of Grimm, and they began tearing apart the Paladins and airships they had previously been fighting alongside. Hunters and Huntresses suddenly switched sides, ripping, crushing, and generally massacring their former allies.

The play-battle had taken hours. The massacre had taken minutes.

Jaune Arc had been murdered by his own infested friends. His essence was already catalogued in the Zerg's genetic memory, and he had played his part.

Her enemies now dead, Salem had moved into phase two of her new plan. Collecting the Maidens' powers.

Nora Valkyrie was infested, and as Cinder's killer she had become the Fall Maiden. By luck, the Winter Maiden had been in the battle, but unaware of her powers. Salem had her killed by the infested Weiss Schnee. That meant that the Spring and Summer maidens were unaware civilians, and Ozpin was out there hiding among them as well.

Salem set the unified Grimm Zerg loose upon Remnant as Ruhtaba – now black with white pustules and red eyes – set about changing Salem into a proper Zerg queen.

With the Overseer upgrades from Jaune, finding the Spring and Summer maidens had been trivially easy. Yang Xiao Long became the Summer Maiden by snapping her predecessor's neck, and Blake Belladonna became the Spring Maiden by garroting hers.

Through these choices, Salem rubbed salt into Ozpin's wounds. The team he'd hoped would be lead to victory by his "simple soul" all served her now. Ruby Rose had no maiden powers, but she had silver-eyes, and as someone with a soul she could wield the relics once they were found. All other Hunters and Huntresses were trophies – spoils of war and elite soldiers for the day that the Grimm ventured into the heavens.

"And that is the expression I have been dying to see."

Oscar snapped back to awareness and immediately wished that he hadn't. Rather than Salem, he was now face to face with the Grimm Ruhtaba, and he had an inkling that he knew what was coming next.

"I don't care what happens to the boy one way or the other, but he must be kept alive until you've assured me that Ozpin has been expunged, do you understand Ruhtaba?"

"Organism Salem's instructions clear. Destroy entity Ozpin, mind and soul."

"Very good. Let me know if you're certain that you're about to eradicate him. If possible I'd like his last sight to be my first Leviathan."

The queen of the Grimm Zerg and destroyer of Remnant strode out, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Nora trailing behind her, leaving Oscar alone in the belly of the beast with Ruhtaba.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please hold the torches and pitchforks for a moment and let me explain! Yes, this was dark, and yes, it is a bad ending for Remnant, but there is a method to my madness. I have been chatting with other authors and they have convinced me that Swarming the Multiverse has potential for an overarching plot. What you have just witnessed is the first piece of the board being set for a future story arc involving multiple Zerg Broods. And for those of you that really want to send me hate mail now, team RWBY didn't die – they just got brainwashed and forced to commit murder while assisting with planetary genocide. It may be dark, and possibly unsatisfying, but that is because this is not the end. Every ending carries the potential for a new beginning now.
> 
> Regardless of your reaction, I am pleased to announce the next chapter's candidate: Smaug!


	11. Smaug Brood

All was silent around the Lonely Mountain. The Desolation of Smaug was an ashen ruin inhospitable to man and beast alike. The Dwarves had long since abandoned their former home, and the men of the Kingdom of Dale had lost their kingdom as well. The old city was silent as a grave, and dead, burnt trees stood as if mourning for it.

But on this night, keen eyes across Middle Earth spotted a shooting star, one that crashed in the heart of the Desolation. The people of Lake Town murmured in fear, wondering if this might rouse the the terrible dragon from his slumber, but the tremors subsided and did not resume, and so their lives went on.

But in the crater something stirred. A fleshy sac burned away, the heat of atmospheric entry having set it ablaze, but as it did so it revealed its precious cargo: a Zerg Hatchery, completely intact and already secreting Creep to consume any organic material nearby. It also began to use what resources it had to spawn Larvae, but where most could not survive off Creep (or even move without it) one set out, its queen's lone order echoing in it's mind: find a powerful host, something that could protect the Swarm until it could protect itself, or lead it to greatness from its new beginning.

It could sense nothing in the area save for something powerful and intelligent in the mountain, but it was cautious. It could faintly sense many lesser creatures in the distance, across the water, and so it wriggled towards the lake, leaving a trail that would baffle any ranger in the ash.

It swam and as it neared Lake Town it listened with both its auditory sensors and its mind.

"Remember child, no matter how bad things seem, you must never approach the mountain."

"But why not Mama?"

"Because of the dragon."

And so the Larva learned by spying on children's stories about this Middle Earth, the Lonely Mountain, and the dragon Smaug.

Smaug the Terrible, the Magnificent, the Tremendous, the Unassessably Wealthy, the Mighty, the Stupendous, the Tyrannical, the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities. Truly, the dragon was something to be feared… but for the Zerg creatures that were feared were coveted, and so the Larva lingered and listened for yet more stories of dragons.

And so it learned the history of the Lonely Mountain; that it had once been Erebor, the last Kingdom of the Dwarves, and that its wealth had been immeasurable. But dragons coveted gold with a dark and fierce desire, and two-hundred years ago a young Smaug had flown down from the north, burning all who stood in his path away until the mountain and all of its treasures were his and his alone… but Smaug had not been seen for sixty years, and some whispered that the treasure might be there for the taking.

The Larva swam back to the Desolation of Smaug and the entrance to the Lonely Mountain with a plan in mind. Greed and tyranny could be manipulated, be the victim a Terran or a dragon.

As it approached the entrance it saw that it had been melted into a smooth pathway, and that the chambers beyond seemed to glow from within. It slithered along the smooth stone trail, following it deep into the mountain where it beheld a sight that would have struck a Terran breathless.

A mountainous pile of treasure – gold and silver, wrought and unwrought, flowing and scattered across an unseen floor in a magnificent chamber, with every gem and jewel illuminated as if by flame.

The light came from the Larva's true target, the great fire drake Smaug. Crimson and aureate, his thrumming breaths could be both heard and felt, and wisps of smoke flowed constantly from his jaws and nostrils. His massive wings were folded against his sides, revealing the four muscular limbs that supported his weight, and his tail curled around the mound as if protecting it.

The dragon lay partially on his side, revealing a belly encrusted with gems and gold, pressed into the comparatively soft scales by weight and time.

Smaug was roused from slumber by something unusual: a smell utterly alien to him. He had caught traces of it one the wind from the tiny hole in the wall, but now it was intense and close. He rose and felt the changes in the air of his lair. There was an intruder!

"Well, thief! I smell you and I feel your air. Come now, step into the light. Help yourself. There is plenty and to spare."

But the simple act of rising sent a cascade of treasure down far enough that the Larva was momentarily hidden, and while it lacked the capacity for fear, it had strong survival instincts. It held still and gently probed the dragon's mind, carefully sussing out secrets and desires.

"I am no thief, O Smaug the Tremendous. I am a traveler from far beyond this land, that hoped to see if you were truly as great as tales say. I did not believe them."

Smaug was equal parts skeptical and flattered, and immediately struck a pose. "Do you now?" he thundered, the light cast by his inner flames brightening the chamber.

The Larva took the opportunity to scan its target for weaknesses, imperfections, and deformities. Not distracted by the gleaming metals pressed into his belly, the Larva immediately saw the missing scale near the dragon's heart. Problematic in the long term, but potentially useful at the moment. Its limited psionic ability was enough to determine what the dragon wanted to hear and how he wanted to hear it. Now it was simply a matter of playing the creature's petty little game.

"The myths and legends fall far short of the reality, Smaug the Magnificent."

The dragon began taking shallower breaths and crawling about the mound. The Larva used each tremor from his footfalls to move slightly to maintain its distance as the dragon spoke again.

"You have nice manners for a thief and a liar. You seem familiar with my name, but I don't remember smelling you before. Who are you and where do you come from, may I ask?"

"I come from beyond, where the treasures are hard to find but truly infinite."

The dragon showed no outward reaction, but the Larva sensed the shift in Smaug's thoughts as he processed the idea of infinite treasure.

"Infinite you say? And yet how could I possibly not sense wealth beyond measure? Perhaps you are trying to goad me into leaving so that you may take possession of my hoard!"

The dragon's speech ended in a roar, but the Larva was undeterred.

"You are an earthly creature bound by earthly senses. My kind traverse the void between stars, and entire worlds are ours to harvest. But a cataclysm befell us and we must begin anew. We have no leader, and no purpose. Join us, rule us, and you shall become the wealthiest dragon not merely in Middle-Earth, but all the universe!"

But the Larva's certainty of success clouded it's judgment and it suddenly found its gilded hiding place scattered and itself pinned by a claw. It wriggled and writhed in instinctive distress, to Smaug's great amusement.

"And how could a mere insect possibly hope to provide me with the wealth of the cosmos?"

"I am the key to control of the Zerg, the key to protecting your hoard from thieves, and the key to limitless wealth. You are Smaug the Magnificent, look and behold what your future holds as Smaug the Infinite!"

As it spoke the Larva pushed images of the Zerg into Smaug's mind. Images of the Swarm rampaging across the lands of their enemies, of Terrans fighting and dying to defend not merely their homes, but their wealth. It showed him the vast amounts of gems, gold, and silver the Zerg unearthed as they mined, normally discarded but which could belong to Smaug and Smaug alone.

The dragon's eyes were wide as the vision ended, a look of rapture on his reptilian features, but his focus soon returned and he glowered at the Larva, the heat of his body intensifying as he did so.

"Do you take me for a fool? My hoard is valuable beyond measure not merely because of it's size, but it's craftsmanship. These are the riches of elves, dwarves, and men, forged and cut into magnificent forms across centuries, millennia, not mere stones pulled from the ground!"

By the end his inner fires were radiating such heat that the Larva's armor began to smolder, but it had a last trick up its nonexistent sleeve.

"As the leader of the Zerg you would keep your mind, but the Swarm can infest those which are deemed useful. Imagine a legion of dwarven slaves that exist solely to expand your treasure with their toil. And I have heard tales of the War of Wrath. The threat of the Valar remains so long as you dwell in Middle-Earth. As the Swarm's leader, you would be taken to the stars beyond their reach, to grow older and wealthier for all eternity."

There was a moment of silence as Smaug allowed the Larva to squirm beneath his claws while he considered this possibility.

"And how, pray tell, does one become a Zerg?"

This was the most dangerous of moments for the Larva, and would decide the fate of the Swarm on this world. Alerting Smaug to the missing scale would wound his pride and prompt incineration, and the other option would leave the Larva vulnerable. It weighed its options.

For a creature of Smaug's size, the Larva could allow itself to be swallowed and distribute the mutagen in the digestive system. That would be slower, and leave it vulnerable to the dragon's jaws. More efficient would be to inject it's mutagen close to the heart, but in this case that would require informing the dragon of an imperfection in its appearance, an inherently suicidal act.

It decided to explain the process in a manner that Smaug would understand. "Consume me whole, and by tomorrow my scent shall come from your body, and that shall tell my lesser broodmates to submit to your will."

Smaug momentarily gave the Larva a look akin to bewilderment, but promptly swallowed the small creature, savoring its odd but savory flavor as it went down his gullet.

That night the Larva set to work from within the dragon. Smaug's body and essence were imbued with fire, but that only slowed it's efforts; Abathur had been meticulous about incorporating the specialized Larvae with contingencies for every feasible issue in the infestation of their hosts. Smaug slept well that night, dreaming of wealth from within his mountainous bed of plunder. Such was the Larva's work that Smaug did not even feel the transformation taking place.

His claws grew harder and sharper to rival an Ultralisk's bladed arms. His magnificent scales - once merely capable of withstanding blades - could now weather nuclear wars. And his mind became Zerg. It was not an intruder in the mountain that woke Smaug, but a stirring of alien minds.

Enormous nostrils blew piles of coins away to take a deep breath of the air, and true enough Smaug could tell that his own scent had changed. More pressingly, he sensed the Hatchery, it's squirming Larvae, and it's few waiting Drones.

An army marches on its stomach, and the Zerg were no different. Smaug could have his army, but they required sustenance. The Desolation kept intruders away, but it provided little in the way of nourishment.

Smaug considered simply razing the nearby Laketown and allowing his Swarm to feast on the dead, but the Larva had made a tiny change to Smaug's thought processes.

The lust for treasure and love of gold could never be removed from a dragon, but Smaug's laziness had been thoroughly expunged. The Swarm could not sit idly by while the universe evolved without it, and so it's leader could not either.

From Smaug's perspective, he felt invigorated in a way he hadn't been since he was but a young drake, roaming and burning for a hoard of his own.

And so he burst from the melted trail that had once been Erebor's main entrance, and for the first time in nearly six decades the people of Laketown shuddered in fear as they heard the roar of the dragon and saw the crimson figure in the skies.

Smaug could sense the Hatchery with the same ease with which he could identify every coin of his hoard, but felt no need to check up on it. Instead he flew westward, towards the forest. Game was plentiful there. The Zerg might have been capable of devouring the trees and plants of the forest, but Smaug was no pack mule. He would not drag trees to his minions; his brood would feast on flesh!

However, the scent of the woods had changed during the centuries since Smaug had conquered the mountain. Simply flying over it, Smaug could tell that the game, though still plentiful, had changed. Many were smaller and more clever than they had been as they adapted to life in Mirkwood.

Skimming the treetops, he caught another scent. Creatures that were large, and glutted on the beasts he would have taken. The dragon landed in the wood, instantly creating a clearing in the dark forest, the sunlight flooding into the opening and revealing his prey: spiders - wayward spawn of Shelob who'd been smart and fast enough to escape their mother's ever-growing hunger.

Smaug devoured many of the fleeing arachnids, but chose a pair of the largest to merely pierce and clutch within his talons. They would be the Zerg's first proper meal in Middle Earth, but far from the last…

* * *

Some months later, a hunting party of elves moved through the woods swiftly and silently. At first Smaug's comings and goings had brought panic, as they feared their home would be razed just as the dwarves' had been. Then they realized he was targeting the spiders and fear turned to confused appreciation, as one enemy slowly eradicated the other. But now there was something else stalking the wood. The life was leaving the forest, and there were hideous creatures of chitin and scales no elf had ever seen in their long lifetimes.

The hunting party was out by order of King Thranduil to kill these creatures, to prevent them from intruding anymore on their forest's borders. They noted a strange slime on the ground in the areas where the trees began to die and fall. They were about to investigate further when they heard a noise and all froze.

A deer burst from the underbrush nearby, and then some nameless horror - kin to dog, lizard, and insect yet more terrible than any of the three - leapt upon it, breaking it's neck and then dragging it back, deeper into what had recently been dubbed the Deadwood.

The elves followed. If they could find the creatures' lair, then perhaps they could eradicate these horrors all at once.

They were not prepared for the sight that awaited them.

Hundreds of the creature's kin, all bringing back animals of every shape and size to a single structure, some dreadful mockery of a house, where enormous maggots writhed on the ground beside it, tended by monstrosities resembling fusions of insects and maidens.

This was the work of the Enemy, of that there could be no doubt. The elves slipped back the way they came, and the doors of the Woodland Realm were sealed.

Another month later, Laketown became a ghost town like Dale before it. Monsters flooded the city, dragging people away or devouring them in the streets.

And the Desolation of Smaug grew until the mountain was nearly encircled by a writhing carpet of Zerg Creep.

Gandalf the Grey, unaware of the Zerg's true nature or origin, believed them and their connection to Smaug to be the work of Sauron. He hastened his plans and lead the party of fourteen to the Mirkwood before leaving. There were no spiders to waylay them, nor elves or men to offer either help or harm. But their other adventures all happened as is the norm for parallel universes, including one of their number finding a certain Ring…

The party opened the hidden door into the mountain, and that was the moment that the fate of Middle Earth took a turn for the worse.

Smaug had never liked that crack in the wall, and one day on a whim had his Zerg investigate it. His wrath upon learning that it was a passage directly to his precious treasure had lead to Laketown's doom… but he had not plugged it up. Far more insidiously, he had his minions wait on the other side of the hidden door, for the day that it would be opened.

Zergling's died by the dozen as the dwarves put up a fearsome defense, but one by one, the party of thirteen was immobilized. But Smaug had been watching through the eyes of his Zerglings. There had been a fourteenth party member…

* * *

Bilbo Baggins ran down the side of the mountain, heedless of the slime he had to run on. His Tookish side might have overwhelmed his senses with dreams of dragon treasure and the like, but no other monsters had ever been mentioned in the contract as infesting the mountain.

A shadow fell over him and for a moment Bilbo thought that Smaug had found him, but when he looked up he saw only some bulbous creature with many eyes.

Eyes that were looking directly at him despite the Ring on his finger.

At first he thought it was merely his nerves playing tricks on him, but then more of the monsters encircled him, and he realized that the Ring's magic had no effect on them.

"Dwarven thieves came to my kingdom to steal my treasure!" Smaug's roar of wrath shook the mountain and all within it, which now included the party. They'd been bound in webs by more of the monsters, these more spider-like than the others, and were helpless before the dragon.

Bilbo did not know why he was still alive and whether or not he ought to to be thankful for it, especially not while looking at his surroundings. The floors were covered in the same grey slime there was outside and there were dark webs all around the room holding up what appeared to be especially fantastic treasures all faintly illuminated by the firelight given off by the dragon.

But Smaug's rage turned to mirth and he began to laugh, a dreadful sound that shook all fourteen to their core, as the beast uttered a nonsensical phrase laden with malice: "It is time for that worm's promise to bear fruit."

As if summoned (and he had been not that the party could know) a hideous vermiform creature with arachnoid limbs crawled into view.

"Come Evolution Master, and take your next test subjects: thirteen dwarves to begin fulfilling the promise your sire made to me when I took leadership of the Swarm."

There was a pause as though the creature Smaug had called Evolution Master seemed to contemplate or recall this promise. "Will take dwarven organisms to Evolution Pit. Examine sequences. Improve, create miners to expand wealth."

More monsters descended and began to haul the dwarves away, the webbing muffling their struggles and protests.

"As for you…"

At that moment Bilbo felt the oppressive gaze of the dragon fall on him, and he knew at that moment that he would die here, alone.

"There is something about you… something you carry…" The dragon took a breath, "Something made of gold, but far more precious…"

At the last word the Ring seemed to emanate warmth on Bilbo's hand, reminding him that he'd never actually removed it. He was still invisible, or at least ought to be.

Bilbo felt his finger straighten of it's own accord and the ring then wobbled and moved until it slipped off.

Smaug diverted his attention to the Ring as it clattered to the floor. He extended a single clawed digit and as he did so the Ring began to glow with what Bilbo thought was some kind of elven script.

And at that moment, Smaug, the last of the Great Fire Drakes, claimed the One Ring of Sauron, and a collective shudder passed through the Zerg at the overwhelming sense of power from their leader.

Smaug looked down at the halfling. He still did not know what it was, but it had brought him this Ring, this mighty gift. He gave it a swift death: one bite was all it took.

The Zerg's first challengers came not from the elves or dwarves, but from orcs and men. Easterlings, Haradrim, and orcs from across Middle Earth converged on the mountain, bearing siege engines manned by trolls and fearsome mûmakil from the far south. Leading the armies were nine figures swathed in black, astride winged monstrosities akin to birds but featherless and foul.

The Dark Lord had sensed it when Smaug claimed the One, and he intended to crush the worm for its insolence.

This was a force that could crush the armies of elves, men, and dwarves alike. It would surely eradicate whatever insects the dragon had bent to his will. Indeed, the army Sauron had marshaled from Mordor's vassal kingdoms and the realms of orcs numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

They burned their way through the Deadwood, meeting only meager resistance until the forest was little more than ash and they stood upon the slime-covered edges of the Desolation of Smaug, and there they beheld their doom.

Overlords hovered above the reach of all but the Nazgûl, who did not understand their importance or function, and saw only worthless creatures that did not even comprehend their approaching doom.

And so the Zerg scouted the forces of Sauron with impunity.

And from all sides of the army, the attack began.

With little more than a few rumbles in the earth as warning, Nydus Worms burst from the ground encircling the army and a ceaseless tide of Zerglings flowed out of each of their gaping maws.

The orcs were ferocious, but their strength in Middle Earth's history had always been in their superior numbers and nothing more. Now they faced a truly numberless enemy.

The men of Harad and Rhun were disciplined and well armed for their kind, but it only served to delay the inevitable.

The trolls and the mûmakil were worth their weights in gold during the battle, for they were the only ones strong enough to stem the tide.

The battle raged day and night, with neither side relenting or giving quarter. The Zerg had their hive mind, and so they knew no fear, only the desire to kill. And on the other side the fear of the Witch King's wrath forced even the most demoralized of their forces to persevere.

On the first day there were nothing but Zerglings. On the second day, some Zerg began to drag corpses back to the jaws they'd come from, and by the afternoon Roaches and Hydralisks had appeared, their venomous barbs and acid sprays - intended for war with the technologically advanced Protoss and Terrans - slew many at a time. On the third day, the first Ultralisk emerged, and on that day both mûmak and troll were humbled.

Sauron's forces were eradicated until only the Nine remained. They shrieked their rage and promised vengeance in the Black Speech, but the Zerg paid them no heed. They were without fear, though the Black Breath's mystical power struck down dozens of them, they persisted in corralling and disarming the Ringwraiths to be caged and infested.

* * *

So much biomass had flowed into the Swarm during that battle that it began an explosive growth. With Overseers peering through the elven illusions, Ultralisks tore open the Woodland Realm's hidden entrances allowing the rest of the swarm entry. The Zerg then turned east and overwhelmed the dwarves of the Iron Hills, and then turned their eyes north, south, and west.

The Withered Heath had once been home to Smaug's kin, and their meager hoards were gathered and added to his own. All of Mirkwood was devoured for its biomass down to the last tree and spider. Dol Guldur, the Hill of Sorcery, fell to ruin and its palantir was added to Smaug's hoard.

Some Zerg followed the river Celduin until they reached the Sea of Rhûn, and by tainting the water infested the land of the Easterlings with contemptuous ease.

The bulk of the Swarm followed the Anduin until it reached the sea, annihilating or infesting all in their path. Lorien fell, Elvish magic and illusions no match for creatures meant to fight aliens with similar - if technological - powers. With Galadriel's death, Smaug's forces had done what Sauron could not and claimed Nenya, the White Ring, one of the Three the Dark Lord had never touched.

Fangorn Forest and its inhabitants were the next victims. By the time the Entmoot had resolved to rally both Ent and Huorn to fight back, it was far too late. Though an Ent could tear stone like bread, an Ultralisk could cleave metal like a knife through butter.

Rohan, Land of the Horse Lords, provided no match either, and though the Tower of Orthanc and the wizard within resisted the Swarm's might for a time, that proved to be little more than an annoyance.

Minas Tirith and Osgiliath - cities locked in conflict for centuries - all fell within days, their walls unable to keep out an enemy that could fly.

Minas Morgul at first seemed as though it might resist, it's strange arcane magics baffling the Zerg that assailed it, but then the Lonely Mountain birthed monstrosities.

Crafted in the likeness of Smaug, the dragons were reborn as a lesser breed of Zerg, and they flew forth, flooding every hall of the dark city with cleansing fire until the corpse-light that lit the city faded at last.

With the birth of the Zerg Dragons, the Swarm became truly unstoppable as flames erased all that could not be consumed or infested, until all the wealth, Rings, essence, and lands belonged to Smaug's brood. Even Barad-dûr had fallen, though its foundations remained indestructible, and Sauron - faced with servitude or the destruction of his form - bent his knee. Shelob - once thought immortal by the guards of Cirith Ungol - died, her essence fully absorbed into the Swarm.

Only one location vexed the Zerg's otherwise undisputed mastery of Middle-Earth: the Mines of Moria.

A creature of shadow and flame crept its halls, its nightmarish presence cleaving through the protection of the Zerg's hive mind to render them afraid.

But the Dark Lord saw opportunity here, and offered to parley with the creature on the Swarm's behalf.

Smaug suspected a trap, and so sent along scores of his most powerful servants; hideous creatures born from spider and dragon essence that could cleave the insubstantial flesh of even the Nazgul.

The Evolution Master had been thorough in testing that.

As the Dark Lord suspected, the creature was one of his fellow Maiar, a Balrog of Morgoth, a demon of the ancient world.

Sauron used his silver tongue to speak a language more ancient than the Black Speech, one last heard in the bowels of the fortress of Angband before the War of Wrath had sundered the world. He told the Balrog of the Zerg, and of his own current predicament… but also of a plan.

The day would come when the Valar would cleanse Middle-Earth of those they deemed corrupted - the Zerg, Smaug, Sauron, and the Balrog itself; of this there was no doubt. But the Zerg could flee. They came from the stars, and to the stars they could return.

The day would come when Smaug let his guard down, and on that day the fallen Maiar could rise again as masters of a new power with a domain more vast than they had ever possessed in Middle-Earth. All it would require was humility and time.

The Balrog was at first conflicted, but Sauron's voice had swayed even his mortal enemies the people of Númenor. The demon agreed to serve the fire drake for the moment.

And so as the Zerg's dwarf-strain flooded the halls of Moria to drain it of all its precious mithril, Sauron set to work on manipulating Smaug.

The dragon was wary of the fallen Dark Lord, but Sauron had worked alongside Morgoth to create the dragons and understood their minds too well. He insinuated that the Valar would act soon, that the dragon's hoard had become so vast that even they were sure to covet it, but that there was an easy way to escape. To the stars above.

To leave Middle-Earth had always been Smaug's ultimate intention, ever since the worm had first spoken of the prospect of infinite wealth, but he was reluctant to do so quickly. He wished to bleed this world of all it's material wealth until every precious stone and metal belonged to him.

But Sauron's voice was insistent without being irksome, and always able to play the role of a concerned advisor, until at last Smaug's brood had torn down the Lonely Mountain for resources and crafted the Leviathan, a vessel of flesh, bone, and chitin with which to wander the stars, and within whose belly Smaug dwelt with his hoard.

As Sauron predicted, once they had left the surface, Middle-Earth was reshaped to cleanse it of corruption. Zerg left behind had died in the billions, but it mattered not to any of the conscious entities aboard the Leviathan. The star-faring colossus opened a warp rift and vanished from Middle Earth, never to return…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author's Note** : It's been far too long since I updated this story, so I returned bearing dragonfire. Smaug's chapter may have been lackluster, but there was no force that could truly oppose the Zerg in Middle Earth, not even the mighty eagles. However, if I may be forgiven for this I'm going to jump around a bit for the next brood. The Zerg are going to another world naturally, but I'm keeping this one a secret because I have something special in mind...


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